Fibre Fleece for winter season

JPIXI · Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:36 am

Hiya Guys,

Today it started snowing, not much but started. Weather in France, Paris usually will not go too low, maximum -6Ã‚Â°c to -9Ã‚Â°c, and snow will be short and occassional only.

I bought a couple packet of Fibre Fleece (it looks ike cotton sheets, very thin, to protect plant from getting frozen), to cover my roses. Only those new planted roses are covered, the old ones should be able to withstand the weather, I suspose.

The reason why I try this fibre fleece is because I have not covered my newly planted roses with clips, just very soft and light soil up to mid of their stems.

I wonder are these fibre fleece useful ? How long should I leave it covered? I am afraid those roses covered will catch diseases by covering them up. Someone told me, snow could do good to plants as it kills some diseases and bugs, it is true? How cold can roses withstand normally? My main concern is still to remove the fibre fleee or not, cos I have not seen any of my neighbour using these, well, maybe they don't have any plant

Awaiting your reply guys, I am worried.

Cheers,
Pixi

grandpasrose · Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:55 am

Hi Pixi! Great to hear from you!
First thing - stop worrying!!!!!
The fibre fleece you bought, was it made for plants, or is this another one of your inventive ideas! Is it thin enough that it is opaque? The reason I am asking is just to get a better picture of what you are using.

No matter what it is, it won't do your roses any harm. As you say, your old bushes should be fine, if they have survived this long with no help at all! With your new bushes, if they are covered up to midstem with soil, and the graft is well buried, then there should be nothing to worry about. If you didn't use the fibre fleece, you might get a bit of frozen bush where is has not been buried, that would have to be pruned off in the spring. With the fibre fleece, I can only see that you have a better chance of this not happening.

What you were told about the snow killing the diseases and bugs was partly correct. They do get killed, but it is by the cold, not the snow.

I cannot tell you exactly how cold your roses can stand as I don't know which ones you have and which Zones they are hardy for. However, most roses will take a bit of freezing for a short period.

I would not take the fibre fleece off until the temperatures are staying constantly above 0 degrees celsius. Just leave it on.

I have a feeling that you are trying to save the entire bush as it is right now, but unfortunately with tea roses, the part exposed to the weather will not withstand much cold. So, even doing all that you are doing Pixi, you may still end up with some dead ends on your bushes in spring that you will need to prune.

That's okay though, because what is below the dirt is still live, and it will all grow again.
Mine get cut right down every year because our weather is just too cold, and they come right back every spring!

It's a good idea to try, and we'll just see if it works. That's how all the tricks of gardening have been learned over the years!

I have had a couple of feet of snow fall here already, and it has been to
-10 celcius a few times, so I know what it's like!

Puits de subsistance ma poule de mÃƒÂ¨re des roses! Ayez un beau jour!

Val

JPIXI · Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:45 pm

Hiya VAL,

Thanks for your great advices!

The fibre fleeces I used are recycled handyman fibre made pullover, the one handyman wear to protect themselve from getting paintings on their clothes. I have seen those fibre fleece sold in florist that are meant for plants, but they are so expensive, therefore I guess why not recycle the torn pullover handyman fibre fleece.

I did some testing of air ventilation, temperature flitering, and water penetration. They are thin enough for air to penetrate and sufficantly thick enough to reduce temperature by at least 6Ã‚Â° of difference. The great thing is, it is almost water resistance. The melt snow only damp the fibre fleece very superfically, and they got wind dried very quickly.

In addition, I had placed sticks of old branches ( 3 corners around the rose ) to built a structure, in case the caught up snow is too heavy and the fibre fleece collapsed onto my young babies.

I will take some photos of the covered roses when there is some good sunlight later for you to have a look.

Merci mon ami, tu es toujour lÃƒÂ quand j'ai besoin de toi.
Thanks pal, you are always there when I needed you)

Cheers,
Pixi

grandpasrose · Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:52 pm

You are very welcome! It is never a problem, I love to hear from you.
Some pictures of what you have done would be great.
I think the material you are referring to is something similar to what they sell in gardening centres over here called "remay cloth". You can buy it in long sheets if you want and cover a whole row of garden. It is meant to do exactly what you are doing, keep things a little warmer, but still get light etc. Good luck with your version!