January may seem like a strange time to do any gardening work, but the snow beginning to fall all over the UK can quickly ruin roses if gardeners do not act now.
Roses are very sensitive when it comes to moisture. If their buds freeze over, they are likely to become brittle, cracked and die over winter.
The temperature can also change very quickly at this time of year, and if rose roots repeatedly freeze then thaw, it cause too much moisture to build up underneath the soil.
This extremely cold water can not only damage roses but cause the roots to rot away and likely lead to more fungal infections that can stay in flowerbeds for quite some time.
However Jennifer Arnott, a gardening expert and founder of The Fabulous Garden, has shared protecting roses from the snowy weather is easy, as you need to cover them with styrofoam.
Jennifer said: “Some people winterize their roses by just mounding soil around and over them. This works to a certain extent, but a better way is to use what are called rose cones or rose huts. They come in a variety of sizes and are made of styrofoam or other materials.”
Rose cones (sometimes also called rose huts) are simply protective covers you can place over roses to shield them from snow, ice and harsh winds.
They are often shape like a dome to fit over a rose bush and helps keeps the air around a rose slightly warmer to prevent the buds or roots from freezing over.
It is really easy to set up and is one of the absolute best ways to keep roses safe over winter so their flowers stay intact and healthy.
How to set up a rose cone to keep flowers safe in winter
If there are any dead or broken branches on your rose bush, then it is fine to remove them from the plant to make the cone fit. However, January is usually the coldest month in the UK and cutting too much can leave the plant vulnerable to frost damage.
If any healthy branches are getting in the way, then it is better to just pull them back rather than do any hard pruning. If your roses seem bushy, then tie them with some string to rein them to make sure they fit properly.
Then, you just need to place the rose cone over the top of the plant and fill it with soil. Make sure the soil is not freezing or hard, otherwise there is no point putting it in the cone. If you are struggling to find suitable soil, you can place some in a plat pot and take it indoors to thaw for a couple of hours.
Next, fill the cone with soil as close to the top as you can, but do not add any compost or mulch as it is more likely to attract pests. Jennifer said: “You might be tempted to fill the cone with leaves or straw or something lighter than soil. This would, in theory, insulate your rose bush. But if you do you run the risk of mice and other small critters crawling in there to stay warm and cosy, and snacking on your rose canes (aka stems).”
Taking the time to set up a rose cone will keep the plant safe no matter how cold the weather gets in the next few weeks so you are guaranteed to welcome spring with lots of buds ready to burst into flowers.
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