Do THIS to Your Roses Before October 20th (Most Gardeners Make This Fatal Mistake!), by Hope Garden on YouTube. 43 min 54 s.
- Video length
- 43 min 54 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Stop feeding your roses about six weeks before your first expected frost. Nitrogen pushes soft new growth that winter cold kills, so let the canes harden off instead.
Stop deadheading in early fall. Let the last flowers fade and form hips, which signals the plant to slow down rather than build new blooms.
Wait until the plant is nearly dormant, after a hard frost or two and most leaves have dropped. In October, do light cleanup only, not a hard cutback.
Put on thick gloves and cut out dead, damaged, diseased and crossing canes right at the base. Make each cut just above an outward-facing bud, slanted at 45 degrees.
Shorten any very long canes by about a third so wind cannot rock the bush loose in the soil. Leave the plant taller than knee height for winter.
Rake up fallen leaves, petals and old mulch from around the base. Bag it and put it in the trash rather than the compost, since it carries black spot spores.
Water deeply at the base once a week whenever rain is scarce, right up until the ground freezes. Keep water off the leaves to avoid disease.
After the first hard freeze, mound soil or compost 8 to 12 inches over the crown, or spread 3 to 4 inches of mulch around the base, keeping it off the stems.
For climbing roses, tie loose canes back to the trellis so they do not whip about in winter gales. Save the real pruning for late winter or early spring.
Tips and common mistakes
Skip foam cones, plastic wraps and fall rescue kits, because they trap moisture and invite rot.
Do not seal pruning cuts with paint or tar. Roses heal better when the cut is left open.
Clean your pruner blades with rubbing alcohol between bushes so you do not spread disease.
Sharp, clean bypass pruners and gloves matter here, since rose thorns and ragged cuts both cause trouble.
Questions
Should I cut my roses back hard before winter?
No. A hard cutback in fall leaves the plant pushing regrowth that cold kills. Trim only long, damaged or dead canes and save the real prune for late winter or early spring.
When do I prune climbing roses?
Tie in the canes in fall so they survive wind, then prune properly in late winter or early spring while the plant is still dormant.
Can I still fertilize roses in October?
It is too late for most gardeners. Stop feeding about six weeks before your first frost so new growth has time to harden before the cold arrives.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
