Most roses need pruning in early September to look their best this fall. September means it's time to turn off the water sprinklers, plant cool-season fall vegetables, and prune your roses for a showy fall bloom. Mark it on your calendar. Prune roses around Valentine's Day and Labor Day each year.
Fall Care: October and November
Once you have had a few good frosts, leaves will start falling. Apply a dormant spray such as lime sulfur and/or spray oil. This will kill pests and fungal diseases that might try to overwinter on the plant or surrounding soil. It can also help nudge those final leaves off in autumn.
After several days of below freezing temperatures, create a mound of soil, compost, shredded leaves or evergreens 8 to 10 inches deep over the base of the plant. Mounding keeps the rose uniformly cold, which reduces the chance of damage caused by cycles of freeze and thaw.
Can I cut my rose bush to the ground? Yes, but it's not usually necessary. The only reason for cutting rose bushes to the ground is if all of the canes are either severely damaged or dead. It's better to follow the steps above to give them a heavy pruning, rather than just cutting them down to the ground.
Most roses need pruning in early September to look their best this fall. September means it's time to turn off the water sprinklers, plant cool-season fall vegetables, and prune your roses for a showy fall bloom.
In Southern California, end of August through mid-September is a good time to prune our roses in preparation for the spectacular fall bloom cycle and October-November rose shows.
You stop fertilizing roses in mid-August to late September depending on your climate zone. Make sure to stop feeding 2 months before the first freeze. Roses use a lot of energy flowering all season long so they need a rest period. You never want to fertilize roses in the winter because this is their time of dormancy.
In the fall, take off about ⅓ of each branch that you cut so your rose bush can grow healthy and tall in the spring. You can cut your rose bush down even more if you'd like to change its shape or height. Make sure to leave at least 6 inches (15 cm) of branches above the ground so that your rose bush can grow back.
The best time to prune roses is in late winter or early spring, around the time new growth begins. This could be as early as January or as late as May, depending on your climate. If you'd like to mark your calendar, or set yourself a pruning reminder, here are regional estimates: Zones 3 and 4 - May.
The best season to prune trees is while they are dormant, or generally between November and March. This means waiting for them to lose their foliage and cease growth, but before forming buds. For fruit trees such as the apple tree, prune in late winter.
Pruning earlier (before the last frost or forecast bad weather) will cause the rose grower problems. If you prune early, you may experience dieback and have to re-prune again after better weather arrives.
Many of the modern roses will only live six to 10 years unless given exceptional care. Some species and climbing roses will live 50 years or more.
In early November, prune the top third out of plants to reduce and eliminate snow damage if we receive an early, wet snow. Do the finish pruning in the spring while the roses are still dormant but the chances of a hard frost are behind us (about late February). Leave until spring.
The whole idea of winter protection is to keep the plant uniformly cold and frozen all winter and prevent the damaging effects of alternate freezing and thawing. Whatever method is chosen, don't begin covering plants too early. Wait until a hard killing frost has caused most of the leaves to fall.
Scrape the bark away gently to see what the underneath layer looks like. If the bark peels away easy and you're left with green filament under it, your plant is alive and well! It's dormant, ready to spring up next year. If, however, the interior is brown, black or brittle, your plant is in trouble.
Most roses can withstand a quick cold snap of temperatures down to 10 degrees F, but it is best to protect them if you expect an extended period of time when temperatures dip under 20 degrees F. The amount of protection your roses need depends on the climate in which you live.
Answer: It's not too late! Many gardeners advocate pruning roses when they are dormant, usually in late winter, but you can prune them at any time. Whether you have a shrub rose, climber, or hybrid tea, you can make strategic cuts throughout the growing season.