Marianne's Response
Revitalizing a rose bush after a harsh winter
I live in Southwest Ohio and we had a terrible winter. How can I tell if my roses are ok? How much should I prune? Is there a potting formula I need to feed them? They are so brown looking and I am not sure where to start. My question is can I save my roses? There are 3 bushes – an Oklahoma Red, a polar white and a yellow rose bush.
Posted by Mary Penn on April 7, 2014
Marianne's Response
The good news is your roses more than likely made it through the winter. You can prune them back hard so that you remove two thirds of the top growth. Do this when you see daffodils blooming in your neighborhood. After you prune you can sprinkle Osmocote fertilizer around the base of the roses as well as a covering of steer manure or compost that you buy in bags at the garden center. In another month you should see new sprouts of growth and then the roses will bloom this summer. If I am wrong and the roses have died than you will know by June. If there are no new green leaves on your roses by June 1, then rip them out and give up. Replant with hardier shrub roses such as the Flower Carpet roses or Knock Out roses that grow on their own roots.
Keep growing,
Marianne Binetti
