How to winterize my Playboy tree roses for winter here in Kalamazoo,MI
by
Ann S
+18
I got this these this summer & they have done great. But not sure what I need to do to protect these beauties, please help someone! Plus, they are still blooming as of today with more still coming.
My 2 Playboy tree roses.
16 answers
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I would definitely protect them in your area for winter. I would make a cage around it and wrap it with burlap to protect it from winds and may want to put about a foot of soil around the base. What zone are you? if 5~ you get too cold you may want to dig them up and pot them for overwinter in garage.
The Garden Frog with C Renee
on Oct 26, 2013
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I'd just pair them up with a few playgirls! Only kidding. Happy Halloween. ~Little Leaf~
Linda
on Oct 26, 2013
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Both C Renee and Rhonda are right. Tree roses, especially in colder zones require some extra TLC to survive the cold. The website Rhonda suggested is loaded with excellent suggestions, although that's first time I've seen using dormant oil on roses. But it makes sense, given the nature of tree roses and the need to add additional insulation around them. They are lovely, btw.
Catherine Smith
on Oct 27, 2013
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Ann The best way and easiest way is to make your beloved tree roses container grown and bring them in before the hard freezes and keep their roots above freezing to keep the plant dormant but not frozen. Many people in your zone do this with Japanese Maples as well. Tree roses are actually grafted (the trunk is many times a multifloral rose or common stock rose while the flowering top is the beautiful hybrid rose you buy) and are very sensitive to cold and many of the diseases that affect roses such as rose canker. The above mentioned method of trenching is what many seasoned gardeners do and requires you to dig a trench and dig around the root ball and lay the rose in the trench and then cover it with a mound of soil. If you are too rough you can break off the graft or other stems. This method can cause rose canker and is not easy to accomplish without stress on you and the plant. Now if you do not want to do all that and want to take a chance, then I would build a very insulated structure out of sytrofoam and burlap around your rose (you must defoliate the rose first!) and it looks like they are in a protected spot. When it snows, and I assuming you may get a lot of it) take the snow and pile it around your structure to help keep in warmth. It is taking a chance but gardening is sometimes about taking a chance. good luck and happy gardening.
The Garden Frog with C Renee
on Oct 27, 2013
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I did find this but it seems like a lot of work, wow. Wondering if I insulate the bottom with the piping stuff & build a little shed over it, which could be reused every yr & fill with hay if that would be good enough.
Ann S
on Oct 27, 2013
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Thanks for the answers, but I'm still hoping for more ideas.
Ann S
on Oct 27, 2013
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Hubby will not dig it up either.
Ann S
on Oct 27, 2013
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Thanks for the answers, but I'm still hoping for more ideas.
Ann S
on Oct 27, 2013
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I think you should do the cage (chicken wire) around them & then burlap or some type of tarp. I have roses & have not had any die (knock on wood) but no tree roses & I am in the U.P. of Michigan. I don't cover any of mine.
Vicki Langstaff
on Oct 27, 2013
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They are beautiful by the way.
Vicki Langstaff
on Oct 27, 2013
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My friends dig up their tree roses every year right after the first frost and store in their basement until spring. Other than fencing in and packing leaves around them, then burlap, I wouldn't know of any other way to protect those beauties.
Christina Butinski Welch
on Oct 27, 2013
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I have two beautiful hydrangea trees in large pots that I am concerned about getting through our Utah winter. The nursery suggested getting bags of steer manure and lean them against the pots to create heat for the trees. Also mulch and water monthly through the cold. This would work for your rose trees as well.
Jeanne Nelson
on Oct 28, 2013
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I live in zone 5a--northern Illinois. I have 2 tree roses (in 2 separate beds) and I hill up the root area with a few inches of a mix of compost & shredded leaves. I cut back any remaining blooms & bud sets. Then after a few hard frosts, my husband pounds in 5 or 6 stakes around the base that are at least 6 inches taller than the top of each plant. I then make a tent by weaving burlap in & out & around the stakes, until I've wrapped it 2-3 times. Then I dump leaves we raked from our yard to fill the burlap & cover the rose. This year will be the 4th year, & my trees are thriving & beautiful! I purchased the burlap 3 yrs ago with a 50% off coupon at Joann fabrics & reuse it every year. The first yr I bought really cheap bamboo sticks, & most of them broke by the second year. I now have some plastic covered metal stakes from Home Depot.
Merri Jo
on Oct 28, 2013
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Ann, I have a new this year Japanese maple that I plan to put a plumbing type foam tube around the trunk, which leaves a bit of space for oxygen to the trunk. Then I plan to put wire mesh around that so critters can't get to it. I will do the burlap/post wrap and will fill it with crumpled newspaper and leaves. I hope to have a lot of insulation to keep the tree healthy over the winter.
Jean DeSavage
on Oct 29, 2013
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@Merri Jo , so far I bought insulation piping & put in on the trucks of the 2 plants. I put plastic wrap all around the onion of the 2 of them. Then I staked & fenced them, put burlap around that & put straw in them. Then hubby is using 4 post & peg board putting at an angle a roof over top of them so the snow won't be able to break them by its weight yet will let them still get water, if that makes since. I gotta believe this is enough to protect my 2 beautiful babies that I totally enjoyed this yr watching them re-bloom all the time.
Ann S
on Nov 15, 2013
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Are you all saying there is no need to prune back rose bushes or cover for winter? My first rose garden and don't want to loose any.
Sally Pomerantz
on Sep 26, 2014
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