A local plant expert says if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to uncover your rose plants and get them ready for spring.
Tom Hartman, the owner of Hartman’s Towne and Country Greenhouse in Manitowoc, says you should then prune those roses.
“You normally take those pruning shears and cut down to the green wood on the plant and you should be good to go,” he explained. “If they are shrub-type roses, so many times they don’t die back, but if you want to prune that and get it back in shape, now’s a good time to do that.”
Hartman also explained there are two kinds of roses.
“The shrub roses are on their own root and they’re not grafted. And most of your hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras are all grafted roses so they have a graft knuckle,” he said. “Again, you look at ‘em right now and trim them back down to green wood and you should be good to go. They’ll be sprouting out and growing here shortly.
As he says, “You can’t hurt them, so just go out and trim them back.”
As a helpful hint, roses need rich, moist but well-drained soil.
