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Tips for November Remember, these tips and tricks are current for zone 5 and need to be adjusted one week earlier for each 100 miles south of the southern tip of Lake Michigan that you live, and one week later for each 100 miles north. The leaves are falling and some of us have had a light frost already. Outside too. You may be chomping at the bit to get your roses covered and ready for winter but hold off a while. Get your rose collars ready, pile the material you are going to need to fill the collars with next to the rose bush but not over the bud union yet. Spend this time putting up your storm windows or raking the leaves. Wait until we get a hard freeze. Then run out and cover your roses. That's when you will be glad you made some preparations. That freeze may not come until December.
Why wait? If you wait until we have a hard freeze, chances are they'll already have their nests made elsewhere. You shouldn't cut your roses back in the fall.
Think about it, "Mom Nature spent all summer putting those food stores into
those rose canes for a reason. Do you really want to cut them off?" The canes
die back from the tip down. Each time it freezes a little more will die. If you
cut them off, you're stressing the plant and lessening the chance you'll have a
healthy plant in the spring. If you really must cut to make your winter yard look neat, only cut down to
3 or 4 feet. It's still not time to cover them but you can continue working to be ready
when it is ready. Tying the canes together tightly with a soft string or old nylons will
prevent them from whipping about in the wind. More roses die from drying out and
damage than from the cold. If you use rose cones, cut the tops out and throw the
tops away. Let the tied up rose bush stick up through the hole.
The material around the base will protect the bud union. The rose cone
will equalize the temperature swings and prevent the soil from the freeze/thaw
cycle. Even with the top missing it will do it's job.
If you build boxes over your beds, you can construct the sides. Leave the
tops off until after the ground freezes. The same reason applies for this as for
the collars and rose cones. If you've done your homework, your bushes will be
hardened off. If not and you have lots of new growth, you'll lose it when it
freezes. Don't worry about it. Just make sure that next year you stop
fertilizing around the 15th of August in zone 5, or 6 weeks prior to the first
expected frost in your zone.
Now is the time to get your new beds ready for next spring. Double dig the bed
or rototill it mixing in lots of amendments such as horse manure, compost and
perlite to loosen and enrich the soil and make for better water retention and
drainage.
If you have grass you have to remove, you may want to put black plastic or
thick layers of newspapers over it for the winter. In the spring, the grass and
most of the roots will be composted and can then be mixed in with the soil.
You probably have received many new rose catalogs for next year already. Try to resist the temptation to order too many roses for next spring. My resistance is really great. I've only got 38 new roses bushes ordered. Oh well, I guess I should practice what I preach. A good rose grower never buys more than 10 more rosebushes that he has room for. If you are going to put in a new rosebed next spring, start NOW. Rototill or spade the area in the fall, mixing in lots of organic material including plenty of horse manure, compost, and leaves. These organics will start to break down over the winter to a form that your new plants can use in the spring. This will make also it easier to prepare the bed in the spring. Remember, always plan ahead.
If you haven't fertilized your lawn for the fall yet, do it now. Even
though you can't see your grass growing much now, those roots are growing
deep. Don't cut your lawn short for the winter. Keep it at the regular
height. You've always got to plan ahead for the next year or season. This will keep
it more of an enjoyable hobby than a backbreaking job.
I have pamphlets and handouts available on rose care, pruning, planting,
disease control, composting, lawn care, and other horticultural subjects.
If you would like information on any of the above please send a self
addressed stamped envelope to:
12150 W. Stalbaum Lane Wheatfield, IN 46392
-Rosenut
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