I'm in z4a. To winterize my shrub roses I dump a 5 gal pail of wood chips over the crown after I've had several freezes. I want the ground to start cooling down & the plants to go dormant---too many people cover their roses too early & I think that is not good. After I dump on the pail of wood chips, I work some of the chips in around the crown with gloved hands & as a result I may have to add 1/2 of a pail more chips, especially to some of the bigger bushes. That' it till spring & its worked well for me.

I'm in zone 5 - similar to wirosarian, I mound about 12" of shredded pine bark over the crown of each rose - usually in early November. I do the same for my climbers, but also wrap their canes in 3 layers of burlap. Once the roses are dormant, I cut back any canes that may whip in the wind. I usually spray with dormant oil before I mound the roses - usually late October.

I aim the discharge chute on my garden tractor at the rose beds and blow shredded oak leaves into the beds. That's all they get unless Mom Nature blows more in. Most roses will have 8 to 12 inches of oak leaves at their base.
as long as the crown and lower 6 inches of cane are protected, I'm satisfied. This may mean more dieback on some roses but of my 400 hardy bushes I lost two last spring.

How do you get the wood chips, etc. off of the thorny roses in the spring? I did try mounding topsoil on my tenderer roses one December. It kept Comtesse de Province alive. The next winter I didn't protect and Comtesse died. Bill Radler said that roses like Knockouts and Bucks should not be winter protected because it is often more harmful than beneficial.
Bill Radler: "The following list of roses are at least crown hardy and do not need, nor should they receive, winter protection (sometimes winter protection is more harmful than beneficial). It is essential, however, that the top of the graft union of the plant (the swollen part between the roots and the canes) be planted 1-1/2 to 2 inches below soil level especially with varieties that are crown hardy, i.e., they die back to the ground but regrow from the ground vigorously."

I definitely heard that you need to plant the crown 1-2" below ground level. Unlike any other plant.

I may do a little more research on the "dumping" method, but I will more likely mound 6" of mulch around the crown and maybe work in a thick layer under the canes.

I have 16 first year roses so I want to make sure I do what I can.

Dormant oil? Do you use that on shrub roses?

By the way if anyone is interested in pictures of the roses above I can get them. I have been very happy with all of them, they all have their own nuiances.

I grow 3 of the above roses and I'm in 5A/B...Pink Knockout,
Sunrise Sunset Easy Elegance, and Pink Flower Carpet. All three are very winter hardy, and will not need much winter protection other than wood mulch at their feet.

In a severe winter, you may have more winter dieback and have to prune more in the spring, but the shrubs will regrow quickly.

-terry