It's a bit early but it's done. I'm just north of Detroit and I won't prune for a while yet. I usually wait until the forsythias bloom. The problem with pruning so early is that we are still going to get some really cold weather and heavy frosts and freezes. Unless they're well mulched you could still lose more cane to that and end up with nothing left. Pruning also encourages them to grow and they may try to put out a lot of new growth that won't survive any freezes. this just uses up the plants energy for when the weather really does break. The roses can only do that so many times before they end up dying. I just lost my snow cover last week and the ground is definitely still frozen. I would wait to fertilize them though. They're not growing yet and can't take it up anyway so it will probably just wash away before the rose can get any of it. Don't worry about them coming back. They'll be fine. They may even come back better than ever. As long as there was still some green cane left on them above the graft they'll grow once things warm up enough.

why do you want to torture them.. have you tried water torture???? i quit doing it.. decided the heck with those that required such.. and when they are damaged beyond repair.. i will be done with them ... that said... if you have a lot.. get a big supply of twine.. biodegradable is best ... link below .. i dont know if that is the thickness you need.. seems to me i got about a half mile of stuff like that.. perhaps thinner for about 12 bucks 10 years back.. still havent used it up.. lol ... two peeps make it a bit easier ... one of you bend down and grab and squeeze the plant.. about a foot or two above ground .... loop around ..and tie a circle off .... release the branches.. and it should hold .... then go round and round.. up the tree.. one to 2 feet apart.. according to the branching ... the least you need to secure them all ... candy cane stripe idea ...up near the top ... where branching ends.... then double back down ... and tie off to the original loop ... or as far down as makes you happy .... dont mess to near the top.. to fragile.. and that is not where the problems arise regardless .... listen.. this isnt a straight jacket .. the only intent is to make it work as one single branch... which when all working together.. will close it up a bit.. so snow does not accumulate inside.. and drag down single branches .... you do not have to tighten it like a corset .... when lightly fastened together.. working in unison.. they are extremely resilient.. and the snow sticks to the outside ... and can be gently knocked off if it gathers deeply ... never.. ever.. tie to the tree.. or the trunk ... or you will find one dead in a few years.. where you forgot to cut the trunk free .... the biodegradable stuff helps said brain freeze also ... never took a picture of such.. so no help there .... and i dont do it anymore.. so dont hold your breath ... good luck ken BTW: i hope we are talking about only CONIFERS... since you wouldnt be doing these things to rhodies azalea.. and many other things called EVERGREENS .... Here is a link that might be useful: twine

Rose growing and Minnesota is a lot of trial and error for each of us- I've killed more than have lived but I'm stubborn (or stupid). I planted tender hybrid teas (15)last year and asked a similar question to yours..Jan (Dentaybow)posted a link for the Far North forum and some of their methods of rose protection. I tried one that amounted to planting the bud union 4 inches below soil level- then in the fall mound with 18 inches of soil and cover with another foot or so of mulch and cover with a tarp for winter. The key was that the whole entire bed was done this way, amounting to more than 2 feet of protective covering and complete surrounding for the roses in the center of the bed. I used raked leaves.I planned the bed to be rose-only with winter protection in mind. They all had dieback but only 3 died- some on the outside were "one-cane wonders" until I took mercy and shovel pruned them. I have Mordens and other hardy roses that I didn't do anything to- some years they dieback to the soil but then send up new shoots, don't be too hasty in writing them off in the spring. The climbing Blaze? I would wrap in burlap and bend them over and cover with some kind of mulch in my yard but like I said, it's trial and error...and hard work, sigh.

sue - I have a small flower garden(perennials) day lilies, gladiolas and such how do I prepare them for a cold, snowy, winter? Do I cut them back, mulch around them, this is my first garden, please help it's getting cold here already. Amanda PA z 5/6 - Many mums are supposed to be hardy, but are not reliable. Here in Pittsburgh, the worst problems for mums are cold with no snow cover, frost heave and wet soil that freezes. Your best bet is to divide your plants that survive and see if anyone local has divisions to trade. Also minimize above problems by mulching, planting in well drained soil, etc. White and rust colored mums seem to be especially hard to winter over. I don't know why. Andie MO/Zone 6a - A good mulch cover is essential to prevent heaving. Leaves are a good and cheap solution. I also walk the garden when we get unusually warm weather in January and February, and tap down the soil in places where I see evidence of heaving. Mums are unpredictable. I have had a bunch of failures, and then again, I have plants that thrive with little or no care. Who knows! JP WI z4/5 - I've had tremendous success with a yellow mum call Westpointer. Two have survived with no care whatsoever (though I'm going to follow advice here from now on). Two Radiant Lynn's have done fairly well too. JJJC zone5a ILL - I do not cut down my garden mums. I practice the "old" way, Summer blooming perennials get cut down to about 4", but Fall blooming perennials don't get their trim until spring. I do mulch the mums though and watch for heaving if snow cover is light. I guess what works for you best, stick with. Half the fun of gardening is in the trying! Doug ONT/Z5 - put your coat on and run right out side and dig up those glad bulbs. They are not winter hardy. Clean them up and put them in a cardboard box with dry wood shavings or peat and store them in your cool part of the basement to keep dry. Fruit cellars work fine but not everyone has one.As for your day lilies nothing needs to be done, you can cut the foliage back to the ground after a freeze. Most perennials like a little blanket of warmth over them. Leaves,straw,snow(yes I said snow)to keep them from thawing out on the warm winter days and to protect them from drying winds. You can wait until spring to cut back most. Michigan is probably zone5 most will survive. Rick - I do like to cut back all of my perennials to keep the bugs at bay, and from nesting during the winter. I cut all plants to two inches from the ground. I do not cut back any of my ground cover such as sedums, ajuga, or chicks and hens. I do however cut back bishops weed. It is wise to dig up any canna tubers as they are not winter hardy also. I just take a few clumps and keep them in my basement in a brown paper bag, and then break them up into small tubers for planting in the spring. I prefer evergreen branches to cover my perennials as they do not squash down and smother the plants. Posted by: Barbara MA/Z5 - Because the idea is to let the perennials go dormant before the ground freezes in our area, I don't fertilize after the middle of August. Too much growth would keep the roots from settling in for their long sleep. I usually put a mulch of well composted manure over the gardens (not on the plant crowns, but around them) in late November, then scratch it in the early spring to give the plants a gentle nudge. I then use 5-10-5 or 10-10-10 in mid to late April when new growth is a few inches high. Asle Serigstad - Very careful with fertilizer now! Avoid any Nitrogen, but a very small amount of fertilizer without Nitrogen will be stored in the basal buds, and helps the plants make it through winter. But Nitrogen now would be fatal. mark AL/zone7b - my garden is composed of wooded islands with turfgrass weaved throughout. I just rake the leaves off the grass and into the islands, taking care not to overpile in one place, and Im done. (well, not exactly...down south we have these nasty water oaks that shed their little leaves all autumn and winter, so it seems we're never done raking...) no shredding or composting needed. the amazing thing is I never have enough leaves to suit me, so I "steal" my neighbor's leaves... Asle - The perennials will definitely be safer with a cover of leaves. This is nature's way to protect it self. Do not rake them away till spring. I grow lots of perennials, and I know for sure that more dies out if not covered by leaves etc. Grace PA/Zone 6 - If you have bulbs you should get the leaves off of them early, or the foliage will come up whitish, starved for sunlight. Barbara MA/Z5 - . You've probably noticed that the maple leaves stay very wet at the bottom of the pile; they also compact into heavy mats. In my experience, more perennials are killed by being too wet over the winter than by being exposed to cold weather. I'd rake off the leaves, shred them if you can and return them to the beds as mulch and soil improvement. I do leave some leaves in a shady section of my garden where there are mostly woodland plants, but try to get them off really early (in March while the ground is often still frozen) and it is a job and a half! Ruta - I rake the leaves, grind them up and put them back. That way they give the protection but are small enough to decompose and don't mat or clump. You can do this with a vac/blower which mulches up the leaves, or I got a great tip from another site-to put the leaves into a garbage can and use a weed whacker. Kirk Zone9 Oregon - You are supposed to rake up the leaves of Bigleaf Maple. Those leaves will mat down and they can smother plants. They can even do that in nature. It would be best for you to rake them up. Janet OH - I have done both over my years of gardening .. raked 'em and left 'em. Everyone above who are for clearing off dropped leaves, made their statements for the quite correct reasons. CLEAN THEM UP AND OUT. That is, if you live in a region of winter freeze. They mat down, cut off light and oxygen, promote bacteria growth. If you are unsure, just leave them be (pardon the pun) then get back to us in the spring complaining about all the hard work and problems created by raking off the leaves from your emerging spring beds, how difficult it was and how much young growth you killed. Doug ONT/Z5 - In the cold zone3 area I would definitely not cut back the first year at least.Yes the stubble will help trap leaves an most important snow to help mulch those plants for winter. Lillies and peony can be cut back to prevent disease. Gail NE Z4B - I think cutting back this fall would depend on a couple of factors. If you have something that is quite tall and or bushy AND you have windy conditions, I would think that it would be a good idea to reduce some of that bulk. If that is the case in your area, I think the practice of cutting back to 6"-12" would be sensible. Otherwise, I would only cut back phlox, peonies, and other plants that you might have that would be susceptible to powdery mildew or black spot or nasty stuff like that. And, yes, you would cut back to green in the spring. AndieMO/Zone 6a - The only thing I will add is that peonies should be cut back because the foliage can harbor nasty diseases that will affect the plant next spring. Asle - Do not cut back until spring. The stems help to catch snow, to giver better snow cover, and also catches leaves and other things for cover. But just as important, if cut back there will be open "wounds", and moisture will go down in the part of the stems left after cutting, causing the root to rot (decay). Skip MNZ4 - Jeff Illes, professor at Iowa State University recently did a study on the cutting back of mums. They discovered that cutting back in the fall resulted in winter damage to the plant. They concluded that cutting back probably removes carbohydrates used for plant food reserves and sets up the conditions for winter plant injury. It is also felt that cutting back ornamental grasses involves the same processes and can also result in winter injury. Janet Oh/Z6 - Over the 32 years I have grown mums (!), I have experienced that NOT cutting back in the fall, resulted in young shoots being pulled (raked) off in the spring during clean up, because mums begin to sprout in my climate (Z6) about April. Isn't it so intriguing how perens. are so productively DIFFERENT in differing climates? Andie MO/Zone 6a - This is such a great debate! Maybe I can argue with myself. Pro cutting: No slimy residue to clean up in the spring; no diseases or bugs wintering over in the dead foliage; a neater look to the garden (O.K., so I'm anal) Con: No snow/leaf catching foliage for protection against winter's cold. A bare looking garden. Min BC/7a - It seems to me that "to cut back" or "not to cut back" depends on a number of factors: (1) local climate (2) the plant type (3) personal preference. I personally cut back some, but leave the others alone. How do I decide? I leave alone those dead foliage and seed heads that provide points of interest - poppies, Chinese lanterns, etc. Others I have left alone because the cycle of colour change, dying and subsequent decay just appeal to me (particularly Hostas). There are others that I would definitely cut - Irises, for example, because they can leave quite a mess after the slugs have picked their way through them, as part of their late seasonal feast. I dig most of my dahlia tubers out, but those that I leave in the ground (i.e., in drier and more sheltered spots), I would definitely cut down - they are aethestically unpleasant, rotting after that first hard frost. I have many more examples, but it will suffice for now. The point is that you do not have to be on one side or the other of the argument ("to cut" or "not to cut"). It makes the whole experience of gardening much more interesting and enjoyable if one could take into consideration each individual plant, it's location and any winter interest it may provide, rather than to apply a single wholesale practice for the entire garden (even though the latter is obviously the easier alternative). Bonnie - I stopped the routine of cutting back perennials about three years ago except for irises and perennial carnations. What I noticed in cleaning up in the spring ever since then was a significant increase in the number of ladybugs hibernating amongst the dried leaves -I assume ladybugs hibernate? - and therefore a much needed army of predators throughout the summer for those nasty aphids. So maybe not cutting back also provides winter homes for good bugs.