Fall Rose Care

Prepare your roses for the winter to come, during the fall season

Early to late fall is the time you should seriously think about fall rose care for the coming winter season.

Depending on where you live, the start of rose care will vary about 2-3 weeks. Early in hardiness zone 3 and 4 and later for zones 6-7. In zones where you do not have winter frost periods, you need not be concerned about most of the tasks.

Care For Roses In Fall

Most task in fall, especially in early fall are about stopping to encourage the plants to produce soft growth that could be damaged in a cold winter.

Early Fall Rose Care

• Stop deadheading – deadheading encourages the flowers to bloom. It is good practice not to remove spent blooms around mid-late September

• Stop feeding – as before, feeding may tell the plants to continue growing and may produce soft shoots that could be damaged in a frosty winter

Mid to Late Fall Rose Care

• Clean all debris – remove debris such as leaves, flower petals and old mulch on a weekly basis. Trash it away from the compost pile to avoid disease carryover. Fungi and spores will survive even a hard winter

• Watering – thoroughly soak the soil before the soil likely gets frozen to keep the roots well hydrated for the coming winter season

Do not prune your roses in fall, they will suffer dieback which results in a more sever cutting in springtime.

Late fall and early winter is the best time to plant new roses. Check through your gardening catalog or visit your favorite nursery to order new plants.

For more experienced rose gardeners it is the right time for hardwood cuttings.

Do Not Forget The Rose Hips

Sometimes ignored and thought of an unnecessary appendage or even debris, rose hips extend the beauty of the roses until winter.

Some species produce exceptional colorful, large and round hips and even can be used for tea, wine or in a jelly.

Rose hips are a great source for vitamin C containing 50% more vitamin C than oranges.

If you did not perform deadheading on some of your rose bushes, enjoy the benefits of the useful rose fruits.