As fall conditions set in and winter fast approaches, gardeners in the community are faced with the yearly time crunch as outdoor plants are being given the best possible chances of survival.
Roses, for many, can be a particularly finicky subject.
To assist gardeners with their roses, Leslie Cornell, owner and founder of Cornell Design and Landscaping, is here to offer a few tips.
Pruning is the first consideration that she addressed.
“Things like a rose bush I wouldn’t prune at all in the fall,” warned Cornell. “I want to wait until it has frozen several times before I would ever cut it, and most of the time I prefer to leave it until spring.”
Freezing indicates to the plant that it’s time to go dormant, and this will prevent new growth from forming if branches are cut. If cut too soon, the rose will keep growing and this can be detrimental to its survival.
“If you’re doing pruning too soon in the season, then the plant wants to make new growth and that new growth can’t get ready for the winter’s freezing temperatures. The plant needs to reduce its moisture in the stems in order for the stems to be hardened enough to make it through the winter,” Cornell said.
“Roses want to just keep on growing, which is why people think they are hard to grow. Sometimes we just love the plant a little bit too much, and it really needs more neglect,” she added.
Plants have a neat trick to survive the harsh winter: they form a natural glycol which is distributed through their stems and acts like antifreeze.
“(Plants) naturally reduce their moisture on their own, and then they make a natural glycol in their stems. This helps them prevent freezing in the wintertime,” Cornell said.
In order to avoid disrupting this natural process, gardeners are advised to cut back on watering.
“If we continue to keep watering them and keeping them wet, they can’t make room for glycol – all they have is stems full of water. When it freezes, they burst like a bottle in the freezer. So, it’s better (for roses) to be dryer,” she said.
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact time to cut back on watering, but Cornell has offered a few tips.
“My guideline is typically the month of September. I will typically water two times, and that’s it,” she said.
“I will avoid doing any watering in October, (except) maybe once if we’re going to have a lot of warm weather,” she said. Sometime around mid-October is suitable for this.
“In this country we tend to warm up around mid-October… I know your sprinklers are all blown out, but the trick is to take a pail of water and water the soil to protect the root zone,” she said.
“The roots are the most vulnerable part of the plant. If your soil is dry, roots can die at minus 11 Celsius. So, we can definitely get colder than (that), but if you can keep the soil moist and freeze it hard, it only gets as cold as ice.
Cornell Design & Landscaping is open throughout the year. The greenhouse closes as weather turns cool around the end of September. In the spring, summer, and fall, the company maintains a Monday to Friday yard care service, and during the winter months snow removal is available as needed.
Yard care services are available until weather conditions change and is also based on demand.
For the 2024 growing season, the greenhouse is expected to open around Monday, April 1.
For confirmation on business hours, Cornell Design & Landscaping can be reached at 306-693-8733.
More information can be found on the company’s website at CornellTrees.com.
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