Mulch
The most important fall chore
If you have not yet mulched your Roses you still have plenty of time to do so. Since mulch on the roses is not just helpful in the Summer or in the Winter I keep my beds mulched the year around. I do however have two times throughout the year that I beef up the amount of mulch where the mulch has broke down to enrich the earth or otherwise been removed. Those times are the beginning of Winter and in Spring after the pruning is complete. Each time I put the mulch on the roses deep enough to cover the crown or bud union about 4 inches. Here in Northeast Oklahoma that is sufficient to protect the most sensitive part of the Rosebush from the elements. If you are buying bagged mulch, I highly recommend that you buy shredded pine bark. Shredded Pine Mulch does not wash off like pine nuggets do and it breaks down into the soil to enrich it adding acid to the soil to keep the PH where you need it to be for the Roses to be able to take up the nutrients you provide for them. Other types of Mulches are available and can be used for protecting the rosebush. By definition Mulch is plant matter. Not stone or Rubber! Stone conducts heat and cold quickly and serves as a sink for extreme temperatures. Rubber makes a great material for the use in paths or other well traveled places but it should not be used for protecting your plants. Pine straw and leaves are also plentiful and many use them for the purposes of mulching but caution must be used to prevent to much tannin, in the case of the leaves, or tar, in the case of the pine nettles from building up in your soil. One last point about Mulch. I have a very large pile of mixed wood mulch here at Roses inc. that is free to my customers. You can load it yourself or for a minimal fee I will load it for you. We can also bring it to you if you have a need for more than you can carry. Just call me for hauling charges. It is the mulch I use on my rose gardens and I have used it for years with great results. |
Winter Wrapping, or not
Winter Wrapping Rose Bushes Some Rose Growers spend a great deal of time wrapping their Rose bushes for winter. They put cages made of chicken wire around the bushes and fill them with leaves or in some cases they go as far as to wrap the bushes with a layer of tar paper to ward off the cold of winter. I sure don't have a problem with doing this for your Roses and I will even come to your garden and do it for you if you wish. I understand that few rose bushes wrapped in this manner die through the winter. I do not however know that they are any better off wrapped than not wrapped because I have never in 30+ years of growing roses, wrapped any of my bushes and my winter losses are rare and most of the time they can be traced back to improper mulching, lack of water or Gophers. The bottom line is. If it makes you feel more comfortable and you will worry less about your Bushes during the winter I would recommend you wrap them. |
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Fall Pruning
Don"t
Rose bushes or for that matter pretty much nothing deciduous should be pruned in the fall. The top of the plant serves as protection for the root system which will continue to grow until the ground freezes. The top of the bush will also serve to protect the lower portion of the bush from being damaged by heavy wet snow. If top branches break from the weight of the snow it doesn't matter because we will cut them off in the Spring.
If you must cut something I suggest that you remove any dead wood you see on your bushes. Dead wood harbors disease and insects and there is never a wrong time to remove it. |
