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Cornell University : Cornell Cooperative Extension
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Roses - Winter Protection |
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Roses must be protected not only against low winter temperatures but also against fluctuation temperatures. As the first step in avoiding winter injury, keep your roses healthy during the growing season. Roses that have been sprayed for disease and insect control and have been properly nourished are more likely to escape winter injury than plants that have lost their leaves early in the fall because of disease or nutrient deficiencies. After several killing frosts, while the soil can still be easily worked, around the first week of December, pile soil 8 to 10 inches high around the canes. It is best to bring in soil from another part of the garden for this. If you dig the soil from the rose beds you may injure the roots of the rose plants. After mounding soil about the canes, tie all the canes together to keep them from being blown about and loosening the root system. It is no longer recommended to prune the canes at this time. In areas where the temperature regularly dips below zero, hay, straw or straw filled manure can provide additional protection over the mounded canes. Tree type rose canes should also be wrapped with burlap, and insulated by stuffing with straw. The canes of climbing roses should be laid on the ground and covered with several inches of soil. Remove covering material in spring as soon as danger of severe frost has passed. Remove the soil mound carefully to avoid breaking off any shoots that may have started to grow beneath the mound. Cornell
Cooperative Extension Yates Association |
