Rose Care for January

     In January, your roses are dormant.  After your December cutback, it's now time to transplant any roses that you've been wanting to move.  We recommend preparing your new hole first.  Then, dig up the rose you are moving by taking extra care to get all the roots.  Dig around the plant starting about 16" out from the base.  You want as large of a root ball as you can get so the rose doesn't have to repair roots damaged during transplanting.  If you are not moving any plants, it's time to apply dormant spray.

     Applying dormant spray is one of the best things you can do for your rose bushes during winter.  We use a product called Lime Sulfur.  The benefits of this product make it well worth enduring the temporary unpleasant sulfur smell.  There are two major reasons to use lime sulfur in your garden.

1.       Lime sulfur is a desiccant and it will dry up the remaining leaves on your bushes.  This is especially helpful during warm winters as it helps the bush drop its leaves and go dormant.

2.       Lime sulfur will dry up and smother fungal spores and spider mite eggs that are overwintering in your garden.  These spores and eggs are laying in wait for the first warm spring rain.  They will splash back up onto the brand new tender leaves and start causing problems right away.  Dormant spray helps to eliminate this early spring headache.

Lime Sulfur concentrate is sold in the Garden Shops at Witherspoon currently at $12.99 for a 32 oz. bottle.  It should be mixed with water at the rate of 4 oz. per gallon of water.  A spreader-sticker should be added to the mixture to help the solution adhere to the plant surfaces, increasing the coverage and effectiveness.  Spray the mixture onto all parts of the plant making sure to cover every inch of plant surface.  Also spray the surrounding mulch, planting beds and borders.  Take care to remove any labels, garden art or other objects from the spray area, as lime sulfur will discolor some materials.

The application of dormant spray in January or early February will significantly reduce the presence of fungus and mite eggs in your garden in early spring.  If you've had heavy disease or insect prevalence in your garden in the past year, it's a good idea to spray two applications of lime sulfur about two weeks apart.  It will make your regular spray regimen more effective to begin the year and it will make you a happier rose gardener.

Lime Sulfur not available for online purchase, please call 800-643-0315 to order.