5 essential actions for their survival

To enable them to get through the winter season in style, rose bushes must be protected from the cold and prepared to go dormant. Several essential actions allow you to protect rose bushes in winter, to have the pleasure of seeing their roses bloom again.

In reality, preparing your rose bushes for winter starts in summerwhere it is appropriate tostop giving them fertilizer from mid-August. It is still possible to apply multipurpose foliar fertilizer at the end of August, but after that, it is better to no longer boost their fertilization so that your rose bushes, then in full growth, do not come up against the full force of the first frosts. So, the first protection for rose bushes when winter comes is to stop their fertilization. Other actions also help prepare them for the winter cold.

When and how to prune rose bushes before winter?

Pruning rose bushes is an essential step for subsequent abundant flowering. This will also prevent the canes from breaking under the weight of the snow or the effect of violent winds. How to prune rose bushes for winter?

First tip: do not prune rose bushes during periods of frost. It must therefore be done before and after winter, when all risk of frost has passed.

In October or November, you can clear your rose bushes of all dead wood and the oldest branches at the base. This pruning must be carried out with good pruning shears that have been disinfected beforehand.in order to make a clean and precise cut, while avoiding carrying possible diseases to your rose bushes. Be sure to always prune the rose bush with the blade facing the side of the plant, in order to promote healing.

The size is different depending on the type of rose bush: shrubby, climbing or everbearing.

Prune shrub roses preferably at the end of winter, pruning last year’s shoots to a third or two thirds, no more. Prune with three eyes, eliminate diseased, crossing or dead branches. Also remove the branches appearing below the graft union.

Concerning climbing roses, pruning mainly consists of eliminating the main branches that are too old, in order to encourage their renewal. Shorten the branches of these carpenters by about 15 cm, which will also allow the plant to be more floriferous.

Finally, pruning everbearing rose bushes, varieties that flower several times during the season, consists of pruning the secondary branches, making sure to leave at least two buds. The main branches must also be shortened, leaving 4 buds. Also prune dead wood.

Regardless of the type of rose bush pruned, any severe pruning should be avoided before winter. Larger pruning will be necessary after periods of frost, that is to say around March.

Also read – Pruning rose bushes after summer: everything you need to know about autumn pruning

How and when to prepare rose bushes for winter?

Rose bushes must therefore be prepared to spend the winter from October or November, also taking care to protect the grafting point, namely the place where the branches of the plant start.

Does the rose bush fear frost?

Because yes, rose bushes fear frost and particularly their grafting pointthe most sensitive part of the plant which must absolutely be protected from the cold. Unlike the more resistant aerial parts of the shrub, the graft union must be well buried.

Strengthen the graft union: how to do it?

If your rose bushes have been planted correctly, this part is normally buried about ten centimeters underground. You must, even for your hardiest rose bushes, ensure that this is the case before winter. Otherwise, especially if the soil has compacted too much in this crucial place, you must place a sufficient quantity at the foot of each rose bush, using a hoe.

Note that for stem or weeping rose bushes, the graft point is aerial. Protect it with an insulating material such as straw, newspaper, hay, etc.

If necessary, hill up your rose bushes

Generally, lightly pruning rose bushes and protecting their grafting point before winter is enough to allow them to survive frosts. In regions with harsh winters (temperatures falling below –5°C)making a mound for the rose bushes may also be necessary.

This reinforcement of the graft union is also recommended to protect less hardy roses such as Chinese roses, Moschata roses, climbing roses, Noisette roses, hybrid teas, etc. Recently planted rose bushes should also be further protected with simple hilling.

How to do it? Preferably act on a dry day, so that the soil placed at the base of the rose bush is not too wet. After removing the leaves and other possibly diseased parts of the rose bush, form a mound of earth about twenty centimeters high at its base using a hoe. Do not use compost, which could burn the base of the rose bushprefer soil taken from another place in the garden or peat. The mounds must be removed in March, by simply spreading the earth around them.

Mulch rose bushes for added protection

For even more protection, you can also mulch the bases of your rose bushes which have been mounded beforehand. Spread straw or any other mulch of your choice around the base. To prevent this mulch from flying away, you can also form a sleeve around the rose bush with chicken wire.then fill it with straw or other natural insulation. Protection to remove from March, to avoid waking up your dormant rose bushes too quickly.

Warning: never mulch your rose bushes with pine bark, which can prove fatal.

Cover some rose bushes with a winter cover

Finally, a winter veil may be necessary although the advice above is sufficient in the majority of cases. Aerial protection which is particularly recommended for stem or weeping rose bushes and those which are very sensitive to cold, such as potted rose bushes.

How to wrap rose bushes with winter cover?

Simply cover the plant by holding the curtain with raffia ties. Only use winter veil sold in garden centers and no plastic likely to suffocate rose bushes causing mold. Winter sails must be put in place as late as possible, just before the onset of frost, and removed as early as possible, even if it means replacing them in the event of new episodes of frost.

WINTERING COVER 120 X 180CM
Practical and easy to install, this protective cover protects plants from frost by letting them breathe.

To discover on Prêt à Jardiner

Good to know: prefer to remove the winter veils from your rose bushes during a cloudy day, so that the sun does not damage your most sensitive plants.

When to remove protection from rose bushes?

You will have understood, if the idea is to help the rose bushes get through the winter by protecting them, their protections must be removed as soon as possiblebecause they can be harmful when temperatures are not extreme.