Roses are starting to wake up after a long winter, and it turns out torn up newspaper is one of the most effective ways to help them grow a lot stronger. February can be extremely frosty, and when roses come out of dormancy, it is very common for their roots to freeze at night and then slowly thaw out during the day.
This repeated exposure to icy water can shock the plant and damage the roots, making it more likely that roses will return weaker and produce fewer flowers in spring. The gardening experts at Heirloom Roses have explained that mulching is an excellent way to protect roses from the cold, and using newspaper is often the cheapest method. They said: “Shredded newspaper is probably the least expensive type of mulch, although it is not particularly attractive. You can also lay down entire sheets of newspaper, if you anchor the edges with moist soil.”
How does newspaper encourage roses to flower in spring?
Mulching is a simple gardening technique of placing material in the soil around a plant where it will act as a protective insulating layer to keep roots safe from frost.
It stops roses from becoming stressed. They can focus more energy on producing shoots and thus grow more flowers once the weather heats up.
Mulch will also smother any weeds that are starting to grow at this time of year. This helps leaves more nutrients in the ground for roses so you get the best blooms possible.
Newspaper is the most cost-effective material to mulch roses so you can keep your garden looking its best without having to spend lots of money at a garden centre.
What is fantastic about newspaper is that it will quickly break down and add more organic matter to the ground, which helps improve the soil and allows plants to grow stronger roots.
How to mulch roses with newspaper and keep a garden looking beautiful?
Although newspaper mulch can look a little unusual on flowerbeds, it is easy to keep your garden looking attractive while still enjoying its practical benefits.
All you need to do is clear any debris in the soil around roses bushes, which means picking up any leaves, twigs or decaying branches.
Then, lay roughly four to five sheets of newspaper around the base of a rose bush, and make sure none of the foliage from the roses is touching the material.
Use a watering can or hose to water on the newspaper until it breaks into the soil. Then, you just need to cover it up with a thin layer of compost, bark chips or more soil.
The newspaper will protect roses from the cold as they start to grow again without being a eyesore, and you will be able to look forward to much healthier blooms in spring.
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