Hi, my dear friends!
This spring, I declared a rejection of the randomness of gardening. The fact is that after the occupation I had a serious breakdown. I bought literally every plant that came my way! I planted and planted and planted them. This was probably my way of coping with PTSD, but now my garden is in total chaos!
My attitude towards chaos remains unchanged: I am not an adherent of the "Put everything in order in one day" sect. I prefer a slow but methodical movement towards the goal. This allows me not to break down and not fall into depression due to the enormous amount of problems that have fallen on me. Therefore, I decided to approach the solution of garden problems in the same way - methodically. And start by studying the theory, because my knowledge is clearly not enough.
Roses are at the top of my list. I have several bushes that I have been growing for years. And now, perhaps, it's time to do it more scientifically.
So, I needed to find answers to several questions:
1. Should roses be cut in autumn?
2. What kind of fertilizer to use?
3. How to protect roses from frost?
And with this list, I turned to Google.
1. Should roses be cut in autumn?
Summarizing what I read, I made the following conclusions.
Roses should be pruned in autumn. Spring and autumn pruning have different purposes. In the spring we form a beautiful bush. In autumn, pruning is, I would say, hygienic in nature. This is primarily the removal of diseased branches and ensuring the ventilation of the crown of the plant.
It is necessary to remove all the buds otherwise, rotting, they can provoke a fungal infection of the plant.
After pruning, only lignified powerful shoots with several dormant buds should remain on the bush.
In a timely manner, you should also get rid of old shoots, which include three-year-old stems that have many side branches and are covered with dried bark.
Source
The pruning tool must be sharp. Although this rule seemed to me self-evident, for some reason all the sources emphasize this.
I was also able to decide on the most suitable time for pruning roses in our climate zone - late October - early November. But in any case, I will focus on real weather conditions.
The air temperature should not exceed 5 degrees Celsius, but we often have a rather warm October.
Here is another important rule:
the volume of the root system of a rose, like any other plant, must be proportional to the volume of its aerial part.
Source
As for weaving and ground cover roses, they do not require autumn pruning. But I found an interesting rule about climbing roses. Experienced gardeners still recommend cutting a couple of old stems short enough to create a "fund" for future young shoots. This idea seemed sensible enough to me and I'll try it.
2. What kind of fertilizer to use?
Autumn top dressing of roses is best done in September. In fact, this is the first stage of autumn rose care. Oops... it looks like I'm a bit late... Although, on the other hand, given the geography of the authors of the articles I read, maybe not... The weather still allows me to go through all the stages of autumn care, but I will have to hurry. One of the rules for caring for roses in autumn says that in October you should no longer dig up the soil around them. OK, in the next few days I will feed the plants. As for the fertilizers themselves, here I decided not to fantasize: specialized stores have a sufficient amount of fertilizers with detailed instructions.
3. How to protect roses from frost?
This is the most difficult question. On the one hand, there is a simple rule - you need to cover roses when the air temperature drops below -2 - -5 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, a greenhouse effect is created and the plants may die.
But this rule works if you have consistently cold winters. In my country, the air temperature in winter can jump like a kangaroo. We had winters when the air temperature was -18 degrees Celsius and when it was +5 and warmer. What am I supposed to do? Worst of all, winters are now increasingly snowless. Previously, snow reliably kept plants from frost.
I decided to insulate the root system by pouring more earth around the trunks, and otherwise observe and react according to the situation. After all, I don't have many rose bushes and can cover them pretty quickly if the weather forecast calls for a hard frost. As for my weaving roses, it is unlikely that I can somehow help them, because they cannot be covered. One winter they completely froze. I was very upset, but it turned out that their roots had come out and now they have grown again.
OK, I have a work plan. Wait for the report 😉
A few more of my roses for your good mood 😊
I cut roses in spring and cover them up with nylon when it is below zero.
So you don't do it in autumn?
No, I have two roses anyway.