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Mulch for winter or NO???

15 years ago

I live in Northwest Georgia... Should I mulch them real heavy or just leave them be? Our winters are "usually" fairly mild with our coldest temps being in Feb. and March right when everything is breaking dormancy. I have never done anything "extra" for winter here with my older roses but I bought several hybrid teas and english ones this year and wondered if they needed special treatment? Thanks a bunch....April

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Comments (9)

pauline-vi-8
15 years ago
Gee April, I would if I was you. I am in zone 8 and I do! In mt first years growing roses here, I would lose one or two and even more one year. Have not lost one since I we have been piling mulch over the crown. It has paid off for us. Sounds like your winter temps are about like here. If I considered the micro climate of our property because of the conditions - no winter sun because of the dense trees and very damp, it probably would be a zone 7, unlike other gardens in our area which I would say are true 8s.
Pauline
peachiekean
15 years ago
I mulch mostly to keep the earthworms happy.
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Ditto kimmsr's advice...but you may also want to consider that the roots to a cover crop are an additional level of ammendment. How about splitting the area and grass-mulching-turning under one side and cover-cropping-turning-under the other side...and see if you notice a difference in tilth, water-retention, productivity, etc. And, of course, report back to us on the different results [or lack of differences] BTW do you use the eelgrass for mulch in the summer? And, greedy me, I'd be tempted to green manure AND use eelgrass in a compost pile. :) /// There is a study from the Rodeale Inst. about the need for beneficial soil fungi needing roots as a host to remain active. I couldn't find that study, but the following link might help. ...snip....WeÂve found these mycorrhizal functions provide many direct and indirect services including increased agricultural productivity, improved water-infiltration and water-holding capacity, and soil carbon sequestration /// FOUND THE STUDY LINK http://rodaleinstitute.org/node/441 ....snip....Yet because endomycorrhizae are 'obligate symbionts'--they must have living plant roots to colonize in order to complete their life cycle--their numbers will decline under conventional agricultural monocultures, which have living crop covers fewer months of the year than organic rotations. The drop in yields typically seen after the first year of cultivation on virgin prairie or forest soils is probably attributable in part to the loss of native mycorrhizae, Douds says. ....snip...."Over-wintering cover crops. . . are very beneficial to mycorrhizal fungi," Here is a link that might be useful: Mycorrhiza
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Hmmm...post this question on the Soils and Compost forum and you'll get some distinctly different opinions from the above. First, mulch is used to protect the soil, not necessarily plants. Sure, some plants can benefit from a protective mulch covering but these tend to be plants that are borderline for that particular zone or subject to bud freezing and dieback, like hydrangeas for example. Leaving soil exposed during winter can lead to erosion and compaction from rainwater. It is also an excellent germination bed for weed seeds that blow in, most of which occurs in late fall or early spring before one has much chance to get out there and get rid of them. Mulch will also insulate the soil against heaving from freeze/thaw cycles which can be very detrimental to any number of perennials. And an organic mulch serves to enrich the soil and encourage beneficial soil organisms as it breaks down, which it will do, albeit slowly, over winter. Many gardeners use leaves - they are readily available, free and make an excellent mulch and compost easily. It is best to chop them up, either with a lawn mower or string trimmer, rather than leave them whole. Others use bark, compost or whatever material they have at hand or can obtain easily and cheaply. And with any mulch, it should be applied to the soil surface rather than over the crowns of plants or up against the trunks and stems. Mulch can encourage rots if it remains wet over winter and is immediately adjacent to plant parts, but keeping it a short distance away from the plants reduces this problem AND the likelihood of voles or other critters burrowing through to dine on your garden undisturbed.
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Wait until the ground is frozen and then throw the mulch on top of the crowns. If you do it at first frost or even first hard frost, you can still have some up and down temps. The evergreen/semievergreen foliage needs temps in the low to mid 20's for several days before they finally freeze off. Then is a good time to mulch the crowns. Brooke
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carla17
15 years ago
April, I just finished putting down mulch last weekend before the cold snap. Personally, I don't think it matters when as long as plants have insulation for heat and cold.

Carla
susan4952
15 years ago
Oh and in zone 5 I don't mulch (extra) until I winter protect....after Thanksgiving. My crowns are a bit deeper in zone 5.
rosesnpots
15 years ago
April

Like you, the winters here can be mild with the threat of snow and freezing rain coming more in Feb and March.

The majority of my roses are 'english' shrub roses on own-root. I lay down compost to feed the soil, newspaper, and then mulch every fall to protect for winter but more for weed control in the spring. My containers roses just get a layer of compost and if it looks like it will freeze I cover them or put them in a coldframe.

I would recommed laying down mulch in your area but don't go overboard.

Liz
aprilscott12
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for all the input. Now comes the hard part....the seemingly endless waiting on spring! April
rjlinva
15 years ago
This is an interesting post...I had considered NOT mulching this fall/winter because I thought the mulch around the canes may encourage canker. Any thoughts on this? I'm concerned with canker especially with my younger Teas.

Robert
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
15 years ago
In my experience, *anything* touching canes over the winter can cause canker. I've had trouble with certain roses (Autumn Sunset and Jeanne Lajoie specifically come to mind) that got canker underneath a handful of oak leaves that had blown over the during the winter.

The potential problem with adding a heavy layer of summer mulch at this point in time is if voles move into the garden beds. After mulching heavily with shredded leaves last fall, I think I did have more trouble with voles this past summer. So this year, the leaves are going into piles and spread next spring.
carla17
15 years ago
I don't put it around the canes, I just mulch 2-3 inches out.

Carla, whose weeds had to be stopped!

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