did i kill my roses?

Question

in the fall i cut my roses down and put buckets over them. out of 10 only 5 survived. what did i do wrong? i live in zone 5 northeast conecticut.

Answer 1

Hey... don't give up on them... part of it was the year. Here are some more pointers:
Don't prune your roses in the fall. I too live in USDA hardiness zone 5 (Michigan), the appropriate time to prune them in in the spring, I use a local visual weather indicator, when the Forsythia are in bloom (big yellow flowering shrubs, blooming about now). Of course this year... weather was tricky, but normally I'd be looking at Mid-Late April.

The first thing to do is cut back any dead branches. They will be black. At this point, you should see buds that look alive along the stems. Cut out the dead wood and any broken or damaged branches too. Next, cut out crossing branches. You need to 'open' the plant up for air circulation (this helps reduce fungal diseases and insect infestations). Lastly, trim the branches down, so that they are at least the thickness of a pencil (at least). Whimpy branches produce whimpy flowers.

In the fall, just cut back wild branches, and even up the plant.

I would use some sort of mulch to protect the graft and root zone, especially on younger plants. A styro-foam rose cone can be used to cover the plants, but be sure to cut the top off, and allow any long branches to "poke" through. Take them off when the weather becomes more mild. (Look mid-March... maybe)

If you want lower maintenence roses, look at Salt-spray roses (Rosa rugosa), they don't require any protection and are really really hardy.

I hope that this helps
** The spell check is temporarily out of order, excuse any spelling mistakes **

Answer 2

Well, I know that is really heartbreaking. Roses are not pruned in the fall. That's because the shorter the canes the more likely the freeze will get to the grafter, cown area of the rose plant. Really long, out of control canes can be cut back a little to keep them from pitching in the wind. Covering with a bucket sounds like a good idea, but it does not provide enough insulation to block the cold, though it did keep the wind from them. The crown of the rose should be hilled up with soil and extra mulch--in other words, pull the surrounding soil up and around the base of the rose 4 or 5 inches and then top that off with fresh mulch. You push all that back into the bed in the spring around St. Patrick's Day. That's when you prune the roses, too. There a lot of different schools of thought about how you prune, too (not the time, though--always in the spring). I've hand pruned mine back to 18-24 inches, gave them a haircut with the electric pruner, and selectively pruned the canes to various lengths to get rid of the dead or diseased canes. But they do need some pruning. What I've found is that the longer the canes, the more blooms, but who knows, it could just be the year. You should fertilize once a month from March-August. Make sure you spray with a fungicide and insecticide to prevent blackspot and bugs. Various manufacturers make combination sprays that you apply every 7 to 10 days. I've lost roses for reasons I know about and other times they just kind of wasted away or didn't survive the winter. I don't do anything with my roses to protect them in the winter--I live in zone 6. If they aren't hardy enough to take the winter, I want to replace them with something better. Good luck and don't be disheartened.

Answer 3

Roses are very hard to grow in colder climates. I live in zone 3 and have had the same problems. I wonder if they were new ones or older roses. Also, were they planted deep enough? Try covering them with layers of newspaper and other mulch. Good luck.

Answer 4

Yes isolate the bindweed then spray it with Glyphosate (roundup or equiv) however be certain it best is going at the bindweed leaf because it kills via inexperienced leaf then spray once more if critical

Answer 5

I don't understand why you put buckets over them.