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Roses are called "queens of flowers" for a reason - practically any of their varieties, with good care, can win the heart of a grower during flowering. Climbing roses are able to lift their beauty to an unattainable height. With their help, you can create magnificent vertical compositions that will simultaneously decorate the site and create a unique comfort and saving shadow during the summer heat. But unfortunately, the climate in most regions of Russia does not allow this luxurious flower to retain its decorative effect all year round. With other types of roses, usually there are not many problems with wintering - most of them can simply be cut short with the onset of cold weather, and then shelter for the winter will not be at all difficult.
Therefore, sheltering climbing roses for the winter is a whole science, neglect of the rules of which can lead to a decrease in decorativeness, or even to the complete death of a rose bush.
Preliminary preparation for winter
Experienced flower growers do not doubt the fact that no matter what the winter is (frosty, little snow, with a lot of thaws), strong, healthy, hardened and well-ripened rose bushes will best tolerate any unfavorable conditions. But if the question arises of whether to cover climbing roses or not, then only in the very south of Russia can they be allowed to winter without shelter. In all other regions, special procedures for protecting rose bushes for the winter are indispensable.
Help the shoots ripen
Usually, flower growers take good care of their pets correctly and well during their rapid flowering and try to prolong care behind the bushes until the frost. This is where the first danger lies in wait for newcomers to floriculture. Since the beginning of August, when roses are in full bloom, they completely stop feeding the bushes with fertilizers that contain nitrogen.
This is done in order to stop the development of new shoots, which will not have time to mature well by winter and will have to be cut off anyway. But during this period, rose bushes need to feed the following composition:
- 25 g superphosphate;
- 10 g of potassium sulfate;
- 2.5 g of boric acid.
The nutrients are dissolved in 10 liters of water and the rose bushes are poured with the resulting solution. This amount should be enough for about 4-5 sq. meters of landings.
After a month, it is necessary to repeat the feeding, using already 16 grams of potassium monophosphate per 10 liters of water.
It is only necessary to strictly monitor that nitrogen is not included in the fertilizer. It is even more effective to dilute the nutrient solution three times and spray the rose bushes with the resulting mixture.
Another important technique on how to properly prepare climbing roses for wintering is to completely stop the formation and pruning of plants, starting at the end of August. It is also advisable not to loosen, and even more so not to dig up the soil between the bushes, so as not to bring to life the sleeping buds of roses, which are at ground level.
Shelter terms for the winter
Quite often, beginners rush to cover the climbing rose early and believe that even small frosts can severely damage their pets.In fact, rose bushes of old varieties are quite frost-resistant and can even withstand up to -10 ° C and below.
But small frosts down to -3 ° -5 ° С, as a rule, are not terrible for roses, but only temper the plants and prepare them for the winter period. Therefore, you should not rush to cover the rose bushes. It is advisable to start building shelters and laying bushes not earlier than early to mid-October. Although for different regions of Russia, the timing may vary and you need to focus on the onset of persistently cold weather with an average daily temperature below -5 ° С.
But other preparatory work, which will be described below, it is better to begin to carry out already from the middle of September or even earlier, when the first frosts begin.
Removing debris and strengthening immunity
Especially carefully in September it is necessary to free all the space under each rose bush from weeds and all kinds of plant debris: fallen leaves, flowers, dry grass. It is in such places that spores of various fungal diseases and pest larvae prefer to hide.
To increase the resistance of rose bushes to diseases caused by high humidity, it is advisable to spray the bushes with some kind of fungicide. The most common remedies are vitriol or Bordeaux liquid.
After the first treatment with fungicides, climbing roses begin to be removed from the supports and bent to the ground. So that this procedure is not too painful for both roses and for the grower (due to thorns), in the spring, when tying them, you need to provide for it and make sure that the lashes are removed easily. If the bush of climbing roses is very old and large, then you need to remove the lashes very gradually, not at one time, but even in this case, it is sometimes impossible to do this. In such a situation, it is possible to warm the lashes of roses with the help of several layers of dense non-woven material or coarse fabric, such as burlap.
Bending the roses after releasing them from the supports is demonstrated in detail in the following video:
Pruning and hilling
Pruning is a very important part of preparing your rose bushes for wintering. But climbing roses have several important features of its holding.
- First, only the youngest unripe green shoots from the top of the bush are cut when the lashes are removed from the supports.
- Secondly, all flowers and buds on the bush in front of the shelter are necessarily cut off.
- Thirdly, the period of the onset of small frosts is expected, which should contribute to the fall of the leaves. If the leaves of the roses have not fallen off, then they must be cut off, especially in the lower part of the bush, along with cuttings and small twigs. They become a habitat for all sorts of pathogens and pests.
Sometimes the removal of leaves turns into a difficult operation, due to the abundance of shoots with thorns. Then gardeners use special preparations for spraying the leaves - it is better to use those that belong to the sulfur group.
If we talk about how to cover climbing roses, then you need to start in any case with hilling the root collar. This technique is necessary for roses of any variety and allows you to keep the rose bush alive even in the most unfavorable weather conditions in winter.
It is best to use ordinary soil from row spacings for hilling. It is only necessary that it be completely dry, so it is better to prepare it in advance and store it somewhere under a canopy. For one young rose bush, one bucket of earth is enough, old powerful plants will need 2-3 buckets, which are poured directly into the center of the bush in the form of a cone.Instead of earth, you can also use dry sand, but it is advisable not to use peat, humus or sawdust, as they absorb moisture too well. On average, 20-30 cm of hilling height is enough for one rose bush.
Shelters for climbing roses
When looking for an answer to the question: "How to cover climbing roses for the winter?" you first need to understand how your bushes are located. If they are located in one line, then it is optimal to choose a shield type of shelter. In the case of a group arrangement, you can build a frame over the entire rose garden. If the rose bushes are located separately, then here you need to focus on the climatic conditions of your region. If your winters are moderately frosty and there is a lot of snow, then high hilling with spruce branches covering on top will be enough. Otherwise, it is advisable to build at least a small, but frame with an air gap.
Shields for roses
Trimmed and removed from the supports, the rose bush is neatly tied in a bundle and bent as far as possible to the ground, on which spruce branches are previously placed. The branches of the lashes must be pinned to the ground in several places with solid wire. Now you need to find or build from scrap materials two wooden shields, about 80 cm wide and equal to the length of the pink row. Shields are placed along the bushes with roses, like a house and are strengthened with pegs on the outside.
From above, the shields are covered with a piece of polyethylene so that it is able to close the shelter from both ends. The film is covered with earth and fixed on the boards with planks. Until severe frosts come (below -10 ° C), the film at the ends can be kept slightly open, but with the onset of cold weather, the ends must also be carefully repaired. In spring, during thaws, the film at the ends can be slightly opened to prevent the roses from drying out.
Frame shelters
In all other cases of the arrangement of rose bushes, except for the ordinary one, homemade frames are used, which can be made both from wire and from wooden slats.
The branches of rose bushes are fixed on additional supports inside the shelter with a rope so that they do not come into contact with the frame. In these cases, fiberglass will be the best covering for the frame - it does not allow moisture to pass through, but it is well ventilated. In its absence, you can use a dense non-woven material, combining it in the upper part with polyethylene to protect it from precipitation.
Any shelter for the winter for roses is not removed immediately, but gradually opening its individual parts for airing. It is advisable to disassemble the shelters in cloudy weather to minimize sunburn.
Conclusion
Of course, there is plenty of trouble with wintering climbing roses, but true connoisseurs of beauty are not afraid of difficulties and therefore are rewarded for their labors with a delightful view and wonderful aroma of roses in the warm season.
