I am not sure all that is necessary, vj. That heavy soil piled on could be too wet and give the roses canker. More will chime in from your area hopefully.

I agree with Sheila about potential hazards of heavy soil as a mounding mulch. Maybe someone else has different experience. Mine is one zone below yours and what so far worked for me was to mound about one foot of pine bark mulch around the base. These are small nuggets and easy to remove in spring.

I agree with vesf

I'm in zone 6a and what worked for me was to wrap a big paper bag (like 12-18 inches tall) around the base of the rose. This acts as a bowl for the mulch and help with wind damage. Dump in about 12 inches of mulch :) I also do not prune my roses as winter preparation, as in colder climates this leads to the rose attempting to make new growth and using energy. Instead you can get this drying spray that will help the leaves fall off but not harm the plant. When the leaves come off it helps prevent spreading diseases/funguses etc.

Hopefully Moses will chime in since he's the one who gave me this great advice last year.

If you have hybrid teas I would suggest even a little extra protection, I lost a few last year and was devastated.

Do nothing. Step away from the roses. So long as the bud union is properly buried beneath soil, more roses die from winter protection around here than from winter.

I am gardening in zone 6a and 5b, I just make sure the bud union of each rose is covered with mulch or soil before the winter.

Moses, you are a lot drier during the winter than NJ. Trust me, it isn't at all the same. You don't get the nor'easter weather off the Atlantic where it is relatively warm and rainy for days. The only way to keep something dry is to put a roof over it.

rssweather.com puts the average annual precipitation for New Jersey at 47 inches/year. For Pennsylvania, where, I live, rssweather.com states 43 inches/year on average.

That's a 4 inch difference a year, or 1/3" difference a month. Both NJ and PA experience less precipitation during fall and winter than during spring and summer at about the same rate. So there is even a smaller difference than 1/3" during the winterization period. Therefore, is less than 1/3" inch difference per month significant?

MY reason for responding to VJ's inquiry was to help assist a fellow rose gardener in eliminating as much winter kill as possible. I outlined my approach to rose winterization in detail so as to be as helpful as possible. My approach is one that works for me, and I see no reason why it should not work for VJ as well.

I am sure the numerous ways of getting roses successfully through winter will be investigated thoroughly by VJ, and that a selection from among them will be made that best suits VJ.

Moses

All great advice and learned a lot. Thanks all.

Moses I am off to find pine bark mulch, already have paper bags. :)

I live on the Great Lakes where it is damp all of the time and I have to agree with Mad. We also don't get the reliable snow cover we used to get so the roses are pretty much bare all winter. I stopped burying and mulching etc. several years ago and have found that my roses actually do better for it. I do agree that you shouldn't prune anything in the fall. If something is very tall and will whip around in winter winds find a way to stake it rather than cut it back.

This isn't a thought experiment where it should work, so all opinions are equal. This is a real life, it doesn't work. Given that most newbie rosarians are of the opinion that the more fuss the better, it can take years to get it through their heads that the reason their roses are struggling so much with winter is because of things they are doing. Since one of the major purposes of this forum is to help people, I don't understand the insistence on doing things that aren't productive.

When I grew roses west of the Appalachians, my experience with winter protection was that it was harmless. It didn't do any good, but it also didn't do any harm. East of the Appalachians, it is different. We can argue about what exactly is the difference, but it does exist.

Mad Gallica,

You are the one insisting that your way is the right way. Just present your method, as you have, and allow VJ to decide what direction to take.

Moses

Hello fellow rose gardeners! My name is Cherrie and I live in zone 6B in northern NJ (Kinnelon, NJ so we're in higher elevation). Please advise, should I use a root stimulator on the roses that I planted in August? I bought root stimulator then, but have been too busy until now, Or as it's now September 29th and we run risk of a light frost in 3-4 weeks, should I hold off on root stimulator until the spring? Thank you

In zone 5b michigan, I do nothing to protect my roses aside from normal mulching. None have died so far.

It depends on the kind of roses you are growing. Many need no protection, some, like hybrid teas, may need a lot.