To protect your roses this winter:
- Begin at the end of fall by mounding soil or a good mulch around stems about 1 foot deep. Remove the mound gradually with your garden hose as new growth starts in the spring.
- Feed your roses with a handful of a complete fertilizer per bush.
- Water thoroughly, and Mulch with hay, straw, or bark to conserve moisture and hold down weeds which will give your roses a better chance to bounce back as the weather warms.
- Fertilize monthly during the active growing season until mid-summer to make your plant stronger and ready for the next hard winter.
Roses are naturally hardy vigorous plants, with some wild climbing varieties reaching 60 feet or higher and thriving in the harshest conditions. And, since the introduction of the Knock Out Rose in 2000, breeders have focused on bringing out the innate strength of roses, making some of the hardiest disease resistant roses ever seem. But, there are some conditions that even the strongest plants struggle to surmount. If you are a rose gardener in a colder area, you know how hard it can be for roses to thrive in the spring following a hard winter.
October 12, 2007
Hello,
I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in zone 3 and I have a rose garden with over 100+ roses and my solution to winter care is after the first hard frost I add about 6 inches of cow manure mixed in with Alfalfa, fish and kelp meal and a organic slow release complete fertilizer.
It keeps the weed down so you have a head start on Spring and they come out of the ground fighting and rearing to go! It also seem to help keep the moisture in so less watering is needed! Then in the fall I use the hips for jelly and such! You can also make rose water with the last roses of the season. It is all organic which is a pre-requisite to utilizing roses in this fashion!
I love your web site! Lots of information about many different plants. Very interesting to read! Thank you Marie Suzanne,dailyweeder.com
October 12, 2007
Hello,
I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in zone 3 and I have a rose garden with over 100+ roses and my solution to winter care is after the first hard frost I add about 6 inches of cow manure mixed in with Alfalfa, fish and kelp meal and a organic slow release complete fertilizer.
It keeps the weed down so you have a head start on Spring and they come out of the ground fighting and rearing to go! It also seem to help keep the moisture in so less watering is needed! Then in the fall I use the hips for jelly and such! You can also make rose water with the last roses of the season. It is all organic which is a pre-requisite to utilizing roses in this fashion!
I love your web site! Lots of information about many different plants. Very interesting to read! Thank you Marie Suzanne,dailyweeder.com