I have a beautiful potted rose tree I bought this summer and keep it on our deck. I was wondering how to keep it over the winter. Do I bring it inside, or is it best off being kept in the garage where it is cold but protected.

Hi,

Your best bet is to leave the rose outside as long as you can and allow it to go completely dormant. This may mean leaving it out there to expereience several hard freezes. I would then put it into the unheated garage where the cold temps will keep it dormant but yet protected from real hard freezes. While int he garage the soil should not be allowed to go completely dry but at the same time don't apply so much water that the plant decides to start to grow. Drier is better. When weather ooutside is stable in spring put it back out, prune, water and you should be ok.

I bought the knock out rose plant this late summer. I planted it facing south. Can I cover the root area with the fallen leaves? Or it is bad for the plant?

Do I need to cut it short before the frost? And put the blanket around the root area?

THis roses are the best because they bloom whole summer and fall.

Your advice will be really appreciated.

THank youl.

Hi,

Mulching roses with leaves is ok and is better it the leaves are from hardwood trees suchas oak as opposed to maple which tend to compact over the winter and not allow for good air circulation. If you use leaves or straw or soil wait until the rose is dormant (temperatures go down int the 20's consistantly). don't cover too soon. After using the straw or leaaves you can use soil from somewhere else in the garden to hold the straw in place or make a ring out of chicken wire fence placed around the plant and fill that ring with the leaves. If they are tall you can trim down a bit but wait until spring to do the majority of the pruning.