How to Protect Your Roses During the Winter Season

The most dangerous time for your roses is during the transition from hot to cold weather. To protect your roses from winter weather take some of these steps once the ground has frozen.

Hybrid Teas & Floribundas:

The least cold hardy roses are the Hybrid Teas and Floribundas. In zones 4, 5, and 6, they should be cut back in late fall to a height of 15 to 18 inches. Mound soil 6 to 8 inches deep around the base of the canes to provide extra winter protection. Then cover the plants with either rose cones, rose collars, or burlap and mound 3 to 4 inches of straw, leaves, or pine needles over the soil.

In the colder areas of zone 4, you can dig the plants in late fall (disturbing the roots as little as possible), wrap them in burlap, and then bury them in a shallow planting hole. You can bury several together as long as you tag each one. Cover the hole with soil and then with a mulch of straw, leaves, or pine needles. Dig them up and replant in early spring as soon as the soil is workable.

Tree Roses: Once the night temperature averages below freezing for 3 to 4 weeks and the plants become dormant, trim the top canes to about 5 or 6 inches. In zones 6 & 7, wrap the entire plant with strips of either burlap or stem-wrapping paper (like that used on tree trunks). Begin wrapping from the bottom of the trunk, overlapping the layers in and around the graft and the stems at the top of the plant, until only the tips are exposed. In zones 4 & 5, wrap trunk and top as described and then staple a cylinder of tar paper around trunk. Then wrap a larger piece of burlap over the entire top of the rose, tying it tightly to keep it in place. Finally, mound 6 to 8 inches of soil around the base of the plant.

Climbers: They bloom on the older growth and along the upper part of the canes, so they can’t be pruned much in the fall. In moderately cold areas (zone 6), the canes can be either wrapped with burlap around the entire support structure (trellis, etc.) or bundled together and wrapped with burlap or an old rug or blanket.

In colder areas (zones 4 and 5), untie the canes from the trellis, bind the canes together with twine, gently arching them at the base to prevent breaking them, and bend them back down to the ground. Pin the  canes into the ground with crossed stakes or U-shaped pins to hold them in place and then cover them with 5 or 6 inches of soil in a mound over the canes. You can then add a mulch of straw, pine needles, pine boughs, or shredded leaves to hold the soil in place if you like.

English, Romantica, and Generosa Roses:

In zone 5, add a 4- to 5-inch mulch around the base of the plants for winter protection in late fall.  Wait until after the temperature averages around freezing for 3 to 4 weeks before adding the mulch. If you mulch too early, you will trap heat in the ground, which can cause the soil to heave as it cools. The mulch can be straw, pine needles, shredded bark, shredded leaves, or rotted sawdust.

In zone 4, follow the directions for Hybrid Teas and Floribundas.

Cold hardy roses, like Rugosas, Albas, Damasks, Gallicas, Polyanthas, Explorer, and modern shrub roses, need little to no protection, even in zone 4 areas.