How to Winterize Roses: 5 Ways to Winterize Rose Bushes

Winterizing is a process by which gardeners shield their plants from the harsh and detrimental elements of winter. It means ensuring your rose garden can withstand the stresses of rushing winds, cold temperatures, and dormancy.

There are many different ways to winterize roses—the best methods for you will be contingent on the types of roses you grow and the specifics of your winter climate. Roses, in general, can survive winters in USDA Hardiness Zones 6 and above (or in temperatures as low as zero degrees Fahrenheit). As such, they can survive very cold climates, but you should still prepare to winterize them to ensure they have all they need to thrive throughout the winter months.

If you grow tender roses—like grandiflora, hybrid tea, or floribunda roses—then it’s likely you should pull out all the stops to protect your plants from cold, windy weather. Hardier roses can withstand temperatures with less intervention, although you should still at least mound them if you’re in one of the lower hardiness zones.

You should begin preparations for winterizing long before the first frost hits. Follow these four gardening tips to get started:

1. 1. Clean up the ground. Remove all the fallen leaves and debris around your rose plants. Allowing this waste to freeze alongside your roses means allowing whatever is on the detritus to remain near your plants, too. Pests, diseases, and the like overwintering with your roses can be a recipe for winter damage.
2. 2. Deadhead struggling flowers. Detach any wilting or browning flowers from the plants before the winter causes them to go dormant. This process, known as deadheading, is essential to cold winter care. So your rose plants emerge from the winter months ready to sprout new growth, you should deadhead any dying elements long before cold temperatures set in. If you don’t see any flowers in need of removal, pruning rose plants is still a good move.
3. 3. Prune the plants down. Especially with climbing roses (or climbers), you should cut your plants down in size. Prune roses down to their bare necessities so you have less to worry about surviving the winter. Keep the strongest canes and flowers intact before winterizing them. In general, try to trim your plants down to two to four feet in height. This will help new growth sprout in early spring.
4. 4. Stop fertilizing in late fall. You don’t want residual fertilizer coursing through your plants as they enter dormancy. Not only is this a waste of fertilizer, but it could lead to damage as the plants use the energy provided by the fertilizer to struggle against the first frost of the year. Fertilize for the last time in late summer or early fall. At a bare minimum, stop using fertilizer at least six weeks before the ground freezes in your region.

Providing winter protection is an essential element of rose care, and there are a lot of ways to do it. Consider these five methods for winterizing roses:

1. 1. Bind the canes. Wrap the long canes of your roses with chicken wire, twine, or something similar. This method best suits a region where a milder temperature doesn’t cancel out harsh winter winds. Colder temperatures in late winter will require extra winterization, but binding your roses will invariably help them withstand windiness.
2. 2. Collar the rose plants. Use burlap or a similar durable fabric to wrap from the top to the base of the roses. While this might be a bit of a landscaping eyesore, it will help you overwinter your plants so they can sprout in all their vibrant, healthy glory come next spring.
3. 3. Mound the soil. For this DIY method, create a mound of soil at the base of the plant for insulation. Bring in about ten inches of soil from another layer of your garden to really ensure the roots have as much protection as possible. You can also add a layer of mulch with pine needles or compost.
4. 4. Tip the plants over. For extremely cold weather, think about trying “the Minnesota tip.” This method has you carefully tip the entire plant on its side and bury it completely under the ground. This prevents it from succumbing to a hard freeze by insulating it deep within the earth itself.
5. 5. Use a rose cone. Shield your rose bushes from winter weather using a specially designed cone. This acts as a shortcut method to collaring the rose plants. It also usually provides more protection, as it covers the roses completely rather than just the sides of the plants.

Once the remnants of winter begin thawing out, expose your roses to the warmer, sunnier, and less windy weather. Check to see whether your specific roses’ growing seasons start in late March, early April, or later. Bring them out of their protective layers a couple of weeks ahead of that time.

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