In the fall continue to water your roses until the first hard frost. Roses will tolerate winter temperatures much better if they are well hydrated and free of disease. Don’t fertilize after the first of September. Avoid pruning and deadheading until a hard frost because that will stimulate more new growth. Shrub roses and climbers should not be pruned in the fall; removal of dead and weak canes and shaping of the bushes can be done in the spring. Fall mulching at the base of shrubs and climbers is advised.
- Continue your usual disease prevention measures – fungicide application every 7 to 14 days – until a hard frost.
- After a hard frost cut canes down to about waist hight to prevent the winter wind from loosening the bushes. Or, if you choose to use rose cones, cut the canes down to about 12 to 16 inches to fit under the cones.
- Remove all of the leaves from each plant and all of the fallen leaves in the rose beds. That reduces fungus spores which will over-winter and cause problems in the spring. Then spray the canes with lime-sulfur to reduce any spores on the canes.
- When your roses go dormant, it is important to protect the bud union (graft) of grafted bushes from repeated freezing and thawing during the winter and from being dehydrated by dry winter wind. To achieve that you can:
- Cover the bud union and lower canes with 4-10 inches of mulch – preferably hard wood mulch, but ground corn cobs, oak leaves or pine bark mulch will work. To keep the mulch in place when windy, a collar of folded newspapers, a chicken wire fence or a plastic collar will do the job. Miniatures should also be mulched.
- Another option is to use rose cones (Styrofoam) which keep the mulch in place, keep the winter wind from desiccating the bud union and prevent frequent freezing and thawing by keeping the sun off the plants. You must place a brick on top of the cones or they will blow away, and you must cut 2 or 3 one inch holes near the top of the cones for air circulation to prevent botrytis fungus growth on the canes. Cones aren’t necessary on miniatures unless they are grafted.
- A third option is to cover an entire rose bed with a concrete curing blanket after mulch is applied. This also requires cutting the cans down to 12 to 16 inches. If you use the blankets (they come in different thicknesses depending upon anticipated low winter temperatures), you should put rodent repellant under the blanket because voles love to chew on your bushes. You need bricks or stakes to hold the blankets down.
- Another method is the “Minnesota Tip” which is used in frigid Wisconsin and Minnesota, but which I do not recommend in Ohio because it is a LOT OF WORK. A 6 inch trench is dug beside each bush and the bush is tipped into the trench and covered with soil.
Then relax in your family room, dream of roses to come in the spring, and watch Ohio State win the national championship!