Winter is the time to ready your roses for the coming growing season. Planting, pruning and feeding can all be carried out.
In very cold areas some winter protection of China, Portland and other tender roses may be needed. Wrapping with hessian or mounding soil over the crown of the plants are both accepted methods.
Check ties on climbers and ramblers to avoid them crashing to the ground or being broken in winter gales.
Some tough roses delight us with winter blooms. Deadhead these as required.
Planting
Winter is the prime planting time for bare-root roses. These are available from May- October.
Plant container grown roses.
Watch out for rose replant disease when planting as roses that follow other roses in the same position tend not to thrive and will disappoint.
Pruning
Prune roses in late winter. In cold areas, wait until the last frosts have passed. Pruning early encourages new growth that is vulnerable to frost forcing you to cut back again.
Never leave prunings on the ground as this encourages disease. Remove and destroy all leaves and prunings.
Clean up
Remove and burn leaves - spores collect on the soil and re-infect your roses following season.
Black spot and rust over-winter on the soil. Be sure to collect and destroy any affected leaves.
Keep borders weeded
Deadhead any roses that continue to bloom through the colder months. Deadheading is an important part of garden hygiene. Compost the flowerheads unless they are diseased.
Feeding
Healthy, well-fed roses withstand disease, pests and weather much better.
Late winter is the time to apply a good rose fertiliser. Read the instructions carefully- more is not better here and you can burn the plant by overfeeding.
If you garden organically, feeding your roses with a good compost mulch is essential.
Sprays
There is no subsitute for good hygiene, feeding and watering to promote healthy roses. In early winter spraying with copper will help to prevent carry over of disease. If your roses are relatively disease free then you don't need it.
A late winter spray of lime-sulphur can be used to clean up powdery mildew. Make sure that you leave several weeks between spraying with copper or lime sulphur.
On old roses and species you can enjoy autumn hips from now into winter. Members of the rugosa family, R. glauca, R. 'Complicata', R. 'Geranium' and others will carry brightly coloured hips until the birds take them.
Mulch
A good layer of mulch, preferably applied in autumn, will feed as well as protect roses from winter cold.
If black spot and rust have been a problem, remove old mulch and dispose of it, replacing with a fresh layer. This will remove disease spores from the soil.
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R. 'Perle d'Or' flowers through the winter
Tie in climbers such as R. 'Wedding Day'
Armguards make pruning so much easier
Pruning- How To Cut
You need a good pair of secateurs. Keep them sharp, clean and rust free
Rugosa roses such as R. 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup' are disease resistant
R. 'Penelope' is a healthy, trouble-free rose
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For great books on roses see our