Caring for roses in autumn, preparing for winter

September is ending, October has begun, and this is the time when caring for roses and preparing for winter is extremely important. After all, they've depleted the soil during growth and flowering, and they've undergone aging processes, so now we need to pamper our beauties so they can survive until summer without problems, and once again begin blooming, even more luxuriously and fragrantly.

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Rose fertilizing

Preparing rose bushes for winter is crucial, as during the dormant period, plants gain strength for the summer season. During this period, watering and fertilizing for growth have ceased, so it's time to pamper your favorite plants with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, without nitrogen, so as not to stimulate foliage and shoot growth—this is completely unnecessary for roses in the winter, and even contraindicated. Fertilizing should support the roots, saturate the plant cells, and accelerate stem lignification. This will speed up metabolism, slow the freezing of cellular fluid, and allow your favorite plants to overwinter peacefully and without problems.

Another good option is to mound the bushes and mulch them with compost and wood ash. This will act as a kind of blanket—it will warm them in the winter cold and gradually nourish your plant during the colder months. We'll stop watering now to avoid stimulating growth, and if it rains, you should even protect the roses from excess moisture to prevent root rot. Water sparingly during very dry autumns.

Transplanting roses

Autumn is the perfect time to repot or plant new shrubs. Choose a sunny, non-waterlogged location, preferably sheltered from the wind, with nutritious, loose soil, and repot the plants. If your soil is rich, make the holes 50-70 cm deep; if your soil is poor, make them wider and add compost. Leave about 50 cm between shrubs; if you're using climbing roses, space them up to 1.5 meters apart. Sunny, dry weather is essential for this process.

If you bought the bushes for planting, soak them in a nutrient-rich and disinfectant mixture for 24 hours first. Remove any rotted roots, if any are found during inspection, shorten the stems, and plant them, spreading the roots out. Then, fill the hole with soil, compact it gently, and water thoroughly. Once the soil has soaked in, sprinkle dry soil above the graft, and cover with sawdust and spruce branches for the winter. Then the question arises: if After winter, the roses turned black. What should I do? - you will not be disturbed.

Pruning roses

Some gardeners recommend pruning roses for the winter without fail. Others question the wisdom of doing so for perfectly healthy, well-grown bushes. Yes, all unopened buds, shoots, and leaves should be removed. If you live in the south, you can leave them as is, covering only the roots from freezing. In the spring, you should prune the bushes thoroughly and clean everything up. If you live in the north, prune the bushes thoroughly and cover them for the winter.

Before pruning, treat the stems with ferrous sulfate and coat them with garden paint to the mulch level to protect the bushes from pests and rot. Then, mound them with fallen leaves, sawdust, and wood ash, which will provide warmth and slow-release nutrition to the roots during the winter.

Protecting standard roses

Because these varieties have grafts high above the ground, they are particularly vulnerable in winter and require more reliable protection. Wrap the trunk, the grafted area, and the crown. Coconut matting is ideal, but you can also use burlap or purchase special film. The rest is the same as the measures described above for regular roses. This way, your bushes will survive the winter well, emerge from dormancy healthy and unharmed, and give you beautiful blooms with the arrival of warm summer days.
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