Roses, which are appreciated primarily for the incredibly beautiful flowering and delicate aroma, are rather capricious creatures and need special care. Preparation for wintering is one of the most important nuances. There are many options for shelter, for the creation of which gardeners usually use what is already on the farm. We will find out whether it is possible to cover roses for the winter with sawdust.
Is it possible to cover roses with sawdust?
As you know, small frosts do not harm the garden "sissies" when ordinary frosts are dangerous for them. This is especially true in the southern regions, where winters are not very snowy, and frosts are not uncommon. To reduce the temperature does not become detrimental to the bark of the rose, it is recommended to arrange shelter for the approach of winter.
Among the various options well proven method of hilling. With it, the shortened bush is first covered with a sufficient layer of dry earth, and then with additional material. Warming roses for the winter with sawdust is one of the possible options. And that's why. The fact is that sawdust has excellent thermal insulation properties. This means that the branches and roots of roses will be warm enough.
However, sawdust, as a heater for roses, has a number of serious shortcomings:
- Unfortunately, sawdust absorbs moisture. This means that after melting snow, a layer of sawdust will form a crust that does not completely pass air. And then you can not avoid the fact that the plants will become impregnated. It is in such an environment that microorganisms rapidly multiplying, leading to mold.
- If you cover roses for the winter with sawdust, the material, especially in large quantities, can affect the acidity of the soil. Garden beauties only accept soils with a neutral reaction, with an increase in this indicator, the rose wilts and dies.
- Basically sawdust comes to the gardeners from the furniture shops. There the wood is pretreated with chemicals from the appearance of mold and fungus. It is not a fact that these pesticides do not fall into the soil.
As you can see, the described material for shelter still has more flaws than strengths. But this does not mean that if you have a lot in the bins, it is not permissible to cover roses with sawdust. Sawdust can be combined with peat or lapnik in a ratio of 2: 1. Another option is to stuff the bags with sawdust and create structures as a full-fledged and efficient air-dry shelter.