Rose Care Between Seasons: Autumn

Jonathan
Oct 23
2 min read

Updated: Oct 31

It's that in-between time of the rose year, not quite bare root season and the very end of the potted season. Garden centres will soon be stocking up with new season potted roses (which are bare root roses trimmed and plonked into a pot), and specialist rose nurseries/growers will be getting ready to lift and send out their bare root orders.

Potting roses in Autumn

Any potted roses should either be planted immediately or left until they start to leaf up in the spring. Bare-root plants can be planted straight away or heeled in (dig a trench and make sure the roots are covered with soil) until you are ready to plant. The advantage of bare-root over potted plants is that the roots and stems have not been cut back hard, and they are usually cheaper. All roses can be prone to drying out at this time of year, especially if we experience an extended period of windy, cold and dry weather. It is important to keep both the stems and roots hydrated.

Care for established roses

Away from the New season talk, there are a few essential Autumn/Winter maintenance tasks to do with your established roses. Winter pruning entails the tidying up of all your roses to ready them for the dormant season ahead.

Bush roses

Bush roses (Hybrid teas and Floribundas) can be cut down to knee height.

Patio miniatures by about a third, and Shrubs/Ground cover just tidied.

Climbers and repeat-flowering Ramblers should be cut back enough to protect them from being damaged by the winter winds.

Ramblers

Old-fashioned, Ramblers are the roses that really need pruning at this time of year as it is still possible to tell the difference between the old wood (which has flowered this year) and the new growth (that will flower next year). So, you need to cut away as much of the old wood as possible and tie the new wood in its place.

Standard roses

Standard roses are, in most cases, bush varieties on the end of the standard stem. The same principle applies as with bush roses; reduce the height in the Autumn and prune hard in the spring.

This is also the time to remove any dead wood/weak growth and stems that are crossing over each other.

Once you have completed the pruning and the leaves have all dropped off and been collected (don't put them in the compost because they will contain blackspot spores) it is time to weed, feed with bone meal and spray the ground with Sulphur rose.

Feeding your roses

Bone meal is the only feed you need at this time of year as it will promote healthy root development by slowly releasing nutrients over the winter period. One application (a generous handful around each rose) is carried out once in November/December and then again in February/March after the spring pruning.

Application of Sulphur Rose at a similar time will kill the blackspot spores that overwinter in the soil after the leaves have dropped. This will give you a head start in the battle against the disease next year.