When beautiful roses are fragrant in a flower garden, I want to extend their life for the longest possible time. To begin with, it is worth taking care of strengthening the plants and increasing their winter hardiness. Only after that you can think about how to close the roses for the winter so that they do not die. Tips from experienced gardeners will help beginners solve this problem easily and the first time.
Preparing bushes for wintering
Even in early-mid August, you need to carry out various procedures that will help increase the winter hardiness of plants. First of all, it is very important that the bushes stop their growth before the first frost. How to close roses for the winter if preparation begins in the summer? It is necessary to stop applying nitrogen fertilizing, which accelerates the vegetation and makes the plant grow vigorously. To further slow down the development of new leaf buds, it is worth making potassium-phosphate fertilizer options. In addition, such top dressing contributes to the rapid and adequate maturation of wood.
Young sprouts witha reddish tint and appearing in September signal that the plant is in the phase of active growth, when it is simply useless to close the roses for the winter. For the survival of the bush, it must accumulate a sufficient amount of nutrients, and the stems must become stiff. If such a situation arose, an urgent need to introduce a little phosphorus top dressing. All young shoots will turn green and you will only need to pinch the top to remove the unwanted growth point. You can leave a few buds. When the seeds begin to ripen, it will be clear: it's time to prepare for winter.
Pruning and hiding roses
The moisture necessary for the plant to function normally evaporates very strongly through the foliage. Therefore, experienced summer residents recommend cutting it off before the onset of frost. When deciding how and how to close the roses for the winter further, you need to pay attention to the timely pruning of the shrub. Greenhouse varieties and some hybrid varieties do not prune or protect from frost. They bloom only once per season. If we are talking about hybrid tea, miniature, polyanthus or floribunda roses, you need to shorten all branches by half their maximum length. All climbing species are cut to about one third of the length. Small-flowered roses can not be cut, but be sure to pinch all growth points.
How to close roses for the winter now and with what? The ideal protective material would be ordinary snow: it perfectly retains heat and prevents the bush from drying out. As soon as the first winter portion of "fluff" falls out, it must be collected andfill her with your garden roses. You can also use pine or spruce spruce branches, which are laid under a bush and make a small hut on top of it. Often used ordinary spruce sawdust, they can be bought at gardening centers. With enough of this material, you can simply pour a slide directly on the bush.
How to close roses for the winter if there are no Christmas trees nearby and snow does not fall? You can use a special synthetic material, such as agrotex, lutrasil or spunbond. A small frame is created from boards or branches, on which one or two layers of artificial shelter purchased from a garden store are simply laid. Some summer residents prefer to cover the entire structure with plastic wrap to protect it from rain and excess moisture.
