Hiding the roses for the winter with your own hands

Negative temperatures and dry winter air can have a very negative impact on rose bushes - weakening and freezing. Therefore, the main task of a flower grower is to protect them in autumn and winter. Further on, it will be explained how, how and when to hide the roses for the winter with your own hands.

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1 Why hide roses for the winter

2 When to hide roses for the winter: optimal timing

3 Preparing roses for shelter

4 How to hide roses for the winter: suitable materials

5 Than you can't hide roses for the winter

6 How to properly hide roses for the winter: ways, schemes, instructions

6.1 Air-dry shelter on arcs

6.2 Air-dry shelter without arches

6.3 Ground hill

6.4 Wooden crate or house cover

6.5 General instructions for covering roses

7 Rose shelter rules and features in different regions

7.1 Middle band (Moscow Region)

7.2 Siberia and the Urals

7.3 North-West (Leningrad Region)

7.4 South of Russia

8 What to do with roses in very cold regions
Why do you have to hide roses for the winter

Rose sheltering in autumn is undoubtedly the most important component of quality preparation of flower bushes for frosts in a country house or a private house. Naturally, the main purpose of the shelter for winter is to help the shrub to survive the negative temperatures, student winds, bad weather, to start growing normally in spring and to please with its lush and beautiful flowering in the future.

Correct winter shelter of roses performs 3 major tasks:

Protects against cold and dry winter winds. If plants are left outdoors without protection, moisture will evaporate from the plant in winter due to dry and strong winds. Proper protection will prevent drying out and will keep the moisture in the plant throughout the winter until spring.

Protects the roses from temperature fluctuations. Optimum air-dry shelter helps to "smooth the corners", protecting the plants in case of sharp changes in temperature conditions.

Creates a favorable environment for overwintering. The shelter maintains its microclimate, particularly the normal level of humidity for the plant.
Pay attention! Despite all the benefits, hiding can be dangerous if you make it right! Moisture can accumulate underneath, which can lead to overwetting and plant subjugation. In addition, such an environment is very favorable for the development of fungi and pathogens. Therefore, it is very important to do everything carefully, according to the rules. This is especially important for beginners in horticulture.

What kinds of roses should be covered for the winter? Winter protection is required for wafer-like roses, tea-hybrid, bush roses, floribunda roses, stamp roses, as well as soil-cover roses (although they are considered to be winter-resistant, in cold regions it is better to hide them).

Roses that do not require shelter: park roses, rugosa hybrids, albums, spinosissima, Canadian roses, rosehips.

When to hide roses for the winter: optimal timing

In order to avoid damaging the colours, it is very important to make a shelter in the autumn at a suitable time. After all, if you do it too early, the plants may protrude, and if it is too late, the plants may freeze, which will weaken or even kill them.

When do you need to hide your roses outdoors for the winter, in what month? The best time to hide is when the temperature is stable (around -5-6°C). You don't have to hurry up to prepare the shrub for winter on the first frosty day, as the warming may still be coming back.

Also, when choosing the optimal timing, you should be guided by the state of the ground: the ground has frozen by at least one centimeter, and does not thaw during the day.

Tip! To perform the procedure it is necessary to choose a dry day, without precipitation.

The timing of rose sheltering varies in different regions of Russia:

In the middle zone (Moscow region) - the end of October, the first half of November.

In Siberia, in the Urals, in the North-West (in the Leningrad Region) - the second half of October.

In the South (Krasnodar Territory (Kuban), North Caucasus) - second half of November.
Preparing roses for shelter

It is necessary to prepare rose bushes for winter shelter in autumn:

Feed roses with phosphorus-potassium fertilisers in advance. This article explains in detail the rules of fertilizing and fertilizing.

Immediately before the shelter you need to cut the roses. Here you will find detailed information on how to correctly cut bushes for winter.

Before hiding, all leaves must be removed from the plant. If this is not done, they will start to protrude, rot, which can lead to rotting of the whole bush, or the leaves just activate the pathogens.

It is necessary to completely remove all plant remains around the bush: leaves, pruning shoots, weeds.

After trimming, you need to perform preventive treatment against diseases with copper-containing preparations, such as Copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture, or Hom, Oxyhom, or spray solutions of other fungicides, such as Scor, Topaz. Handle safely!

The next step in preparing roses for shelter is to bend the shoots to the ground. However, not all roses can and should be bent, it is necessary to do it with woven roses, young stamped roses, as well as with those specimens that give in well. Rules of procedure:

Under no circumstances should the rose branches be bent when frozen, as the stems become brittle at low temperatures. If you bend the shoots at the onset of frost, the bark at the site of the fracture will crack, and the cracks will become a vulnerability to infection. Or the escape will simply break or be severely damaged.

Bend down carefully. If you understand that roses are difficult to succumb to and do not want to lie on the ground, you do not need to bend down forcefully, because they can be damaged. For example, you can tie a rope to the shoots and fix it to the hook in the ground and gradually attract shoots to the ground.

It is possible to bend and fix all the shoots at once near the ground with the help of a wire clip.

Or you can tie a rope around all the shoots, bend them down and fix them to a stake by the rope. However, it is not possible to use ropes made of natural fibres, because they can rot. A polypropylene twine is suitable.

It is also possible to fix each shoot separately at the ground and several shoots with hooks. But this is a more time-consuming option.

It's important that you don't bend or lay roses on the ground. Place the rose shoots on some insulating material, such as boards, coniferous legs, which you have previously placed.

Why do you need to cover the bushes with garden soil? Such a hill is very useful because the soil is a good thermal insulator, protects the roots and shrubs from frost and drying out. The rules of hilling:

The procedure should be performed at the first negative temperatures.

It is optimal to use a mixture of garden soil, sand and peat. The mixture must be dry.

The soil must be poured into the centre of the bush.

On one bush the height of the earth layer is about 25-30 centimeters. Lower buds should be well covered.

It is strictly forbidden to rake the ground from the root zone, because the soil layer will become thinner over the roots, and exposing the roots may cause their freezing.

It is also not possible to take soil near areas where roses grow.

You can't hill roses in wet weather or wet ground! The procedure should be performed on a dry, clear day!

Pay attention! Not everybody supports the method of wrapping with earth, because it can cause the shrubs to protrude when thawing, and when frozen when warmer, it can cause the bark to crack. Therefore, it is not necessary to hill roses with earth in regions with possible sharp warming in winter, but in regions with cold winters (Siberia, Ural, Leningrad region) the procedure is not dangerous.

How to hide roses for the winter: suitable materials

The main requirement for a shelter material to protect roses in winter is that it should protect against cold winds and frost, and against bright sunlight during thaws and spring.

Important: The most important thing to pay attention to when choosing the materials to cover the roses is that the material must breathe! Without normal air circulation, the shrubs will not survive the winter normally. There is a high probability that the plant will protrude and become wet.

Suitable materials for covering roses:

Non-woven material (agro-fibre, spunbond, lutrasil, geotextile). Excellent breathable materials that prevent moisture from reaching the plants (although technically they allow moisture to pass through). It is better to use white fiber because the black material heats up quickly, which is dangerous during the thaw. It is best to use a material with a density of at least 60 g/m², preferably in 2 layers (the harsher the winter, the higher the density). When using this material around the roses, an optimal air-water regime is maintained. Fiberglass in the photo: It's snowing. The best insulation. However, it should be used in combination with other materials. The best option is to put snow on top of the agro-fibre that there was an air layer between the bushes and the shelter.

Sugar bags. A controversial option. However, this polypropylene material is an alternative to agro-fibre. Breathable material, which does not allow moisture to pass through. However, not all gardeners are happy with this material, so it is better to use spunbond.

Video: how and how to hide roses for the winter.
https://youtu.be/zsD5FnxNNkw
You can't hide roses for the winter

Why can't you hide your roses for the winter?

Cardboard, cardboard box. Of course, it is able to protect wind plants well, but it gets wet and wet very quickly and freezes. Hay or straw. Theoretically these materials are very good because they have good thermal insulation properties. But in practice, mice are easily wound up in hay or straw, which can damage your roses.

Polyethylene film. The material is not suitable for roses at all, because it does not breathe at all, and it is extremely critical when wintering the plant. The only option when it is appropriate to use the film to hide roses: in rainy winters, to protect the shrubs from excessive moisture, you can hang on the support posts in the form of an awning over the agrofiber (ie to make the film tunnel shelter on the arcs), while the film should not hang vertically or touch the spunbond.

Ruberoid. They can't be hidden for the same reason they can't be covered with polyethylene film. In addition, the material is heavy, under the weight of snow can bend and damage the bush.

Metal buckets, tanks. Not only do they keep the air out, they also accumulate cold. It turns out that they are insulants.

Plastic buckets, plastic bowls. Although plastic products are able to reliably protect against winds and cold, but they do not breathe, their use is impossible normal ventilation, which can have a devastating effect on colors. Also, it is not recommended to wrap the roses before covering them for the winter with the following substances:

Plastic buckets, plastic bowls. Although plastic products are able to reliably protect against winds and cold, but they do not breathe, their use is impossible normal ventilation, which can have a devastating effect on colors.

Also, it is not recommended to wrap the roses before covering them for the winter with the following substances:

Sawdust. This natural component will be cured, absorbing moisture, and can rot. It creates a favorable environment for the development of pathogens.

Sand. It also accumulates moisture, completely freezes, approximately the same situation as with sawdust.

Gardening with garden soil (or a mixture of soil, peat and sand) is a controversial method, as mentioned above, of spreading out a bush when it gets warmer in winter. It is highly recommended that this material is not used in regions with unstable winter weather and sudden fluctuations in temperature (i.e. sudden, abrupt thaws)

Earth from under the roses. As mentioned above, it is not possible to use the garden land from the plots where roses are grown.

Video: Flower growers' mistakes in hiding roses for the winter.
https://youtu.be/qkDd0ooQXtM

How to hide roses for the winter: ways, schemes, instructions

To date, there are several ways to hide roses in the autumn for the winter. Let's consider the most optimal and good technologies.

Air-dry shelter on the arcs

The air-dry shelter of roses on the arcs is the most optimal and convenient way to prepare the bushes for winter in autumn.

By the way, this method is very good, because there must be an air layer between the covering material and the bushes. And for tall bushes that do not bend (e.g., stamped), it is better to use a frame (round and elongated or in the form of a tepee, as in the photo below). Scheme of covering roses by air-dry method on the arcs:

Install a frame suitable for the height of the roses. This can be a wire frame or normal arcs. The arcs should be placed higher and wider than the bushes so that they do not touch the shoots and so that the material does not touch the shoots when lowering the material under the weight of snow.

Arrange around the bush the legs, birch branches, spruce fall or dried leaves (but only crops that are not rotten, such as oak leaves, from fern) or cane.

Pull on the frame of the agro-fiber. At the same time, the density of the agrofiber should be at least 60 g/m², it is better to cover it in 2 layers.

All sides of the spunbond should be securely fixed around the perimeter with bricks, stones or boards.

Pay attention! Remember that natural resources must be treated with care. You shouldn't cut off your lapnika (or birch branches) right from the trees, and what you can take in the forest from the ground is also good for you. You don't have to use fresh lapnika, but it's a good idea to use it dry.

Air-dry shelter without arches

The most optimal air-dry shelter technology can be used without the use of arches. However, this method is simpler, but also less preferable, because agrofibre under the weight of the snow can sink heavily and damage the shoots.

Step-by-step instructions for air-dry shelter of roses without arches:

Apply lapel or dry birch branches, dry leaves of oak or fern to the shrub.

Now cover the roses with spunbond from above in 2 layers.

Securely fasten the geotextile on all sides with boards, bricks or stones.