Spend £50 on plants and get 20% off | Code SPRING20

Spend £100 on plants and get 25% off | Code SPRING25

Spend £200 on plants and get 30% off | Code SPRING30

Shop

Information & Help

My account

crocus
Wish-list My wheelbarrow

Winter care for roses

You can never quite predict how severe our winter weather will be, but in the absence of a crystal ball it is wise to do a few things to help the roses get through the winter without damage.

If your garden’s exposed and windy it’s worth reducing the growth on shrub roses by a third once the last flush of flower has finished. This will take the weight out of the top growth and lessen the chance of windrock. If it does happen a gap will appear around the stems base, where it’s moved to and fro. Firm your plant back in if this happens as these gaps funnel water down onto the roots.

Don’t prune any roses now. Shrub roses, floribundas, hybrid teas and English roses should be left until the worst of winter is over before they are pruned. Then it’s possible to pick up any brown dead, dying or diseased wood. This should be cut away along with any branches that cross over. Aim for an open cup shape, to allow the wind to blow through, and then reduce the leaders. This encourages good growth in spring.

Hybrid teas can be cut back to a few inches. Floribundas are normally reduced to eighteen inches (45cm) and shrub roses and old-fashioned roses are reduced by a third.

Rambling roses are best tackled before Christmas however, before the new growth hardens. Choose a still day when the growth isn’t whipping about in the wind, or you will have your eye out! The technique is to cut away a couple of older, darker branches at the base and then replace them with the new olive-green ones. If you can, coil the branches round an upright pergola, or loop them along the horizontal beams at the top. You’ll slow the sap down and this will produce more flower.

Copyright © Crocus.co.uk Ltd 2024. All rights reserved.