winterizing roses

Question

We usually get snow before the leaves fall off the roses. Do I wait till all the leaves fall off to mound soil around the bottom? Or just include the leaves? They roses are healthy with no black spots on leaves.

Answer 1

I go ahead and mound them lightly so as to be somewhat done with the mounding. Then once the leaves fall off, finish up the mounding and some of the leaves could be in with the mounding soils. Remember that the object of mounding is to keep the rosebushes cold once the deep cold has come upon the gardens, not to protect them from it. The cold keeps them in a dormant state even during those strings of warm winter days. The last thing we want is for the rosebushes to get warm enough to start thinking about growing and then get hit by the return of the deep cold freezes. That is what can kill them.