The months of November and December can be an awkward time for many rosarians. Coming to an end is the growing season and the winter hibernation season hasn’t begun yet. What do we do with ourselves and our rose bushes during this period of time?

Because your bushes are not yet in hibernation they still require some attention from you. A prime need would be water and the soil around the roots should continue to remain moist. Don’t over-water but give them a good soaking as need be.

For your roses’ winter survival requirements, water plays an important role and with roots that are properly hydrated, they will be protected when the cold weather arrives.

To discourage new growth, stop all pruning and deadheading activity. You should have stopped applying organics last month, and you don’t want to apply any more fertilizer now either. Your goal is to keep your roses healthy while, at the same time, encouraging them to begin the process of going into dormancy.

To combat the black spot, continue spraying at least once each month. Spider mites are still active during late autumn so keep your eye out for them. You should spritz your foliage and blooms with water if there are infestation signs. You also need to watch out for aphids because they’re active now as well, so have a bottle of soapy water ready to send them away.

Pick off any diseased leaves and rake away any fallen leaves from your rose beds. The appearance of your garden will be improved and any disease residue that may still be on the leaves will be removed.

If you want to prepare your new rose holes and beds for next year’s growing season, this would be a good time to do so. They’ll be ready to accept new bushes in the spring because they’ve mellowed out over the winter season.

Around your more delicate varieties like Color Magic, Oklahoma, etc., you can begin the process of piling mulch. For your hardier varieties, they can wait until next month. See our “Winter Gardening” article for mulching tips.

You worked hard all season to keep your roses healthy and beautiful. You may be rewarded with waves of beautiful roses if you did everything right. Your hard work is almost over for the year, but don’t neglect your roses during these important final months.

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The approach of early autumn with changes in leaf color indicates a change in the plants. Deciduous plants, those which drop their leaves in the fall, are approaching that period when the tops cease active growth. The roots, however, continue activity. The sap which will support next year’s growth moves down to the roots for storage and stimulates root action, which continues until the ground is frozen.

These conditions make fall the ideal time for planting and transplanting, but they are not appreciated as much as they should be. Trees, shrubs and similar woody plants are set out mostly in spring, often in late spring, when the new plant, generally with its roots cut back, must struggle to survive. Not only must it create a new root system, bit it must support an actively growing top. Spring growth is top growth as well as root growth. Losses are inevitable and plants which survive often take all season to recuperate. Thus, practically a whole season is lost. With fall planting, however, the roots have a chance to become established before winter, and by spring the plant is fully prepared to take advantage of early growth conditions.

In no phase of gardening do these factors apply more directly than to fruit growing. If you have never attempted to grow fruit on any scale, give the idea some thought. A wise selection of the new and improved varieties now available and an understanding of the conditions fruits require eliminate the gamble in growing them. For some of us simply adding low voltage outdoor lighting to the landscape is enough compared to the long term work of growing fruit trees.

Fruit of any quality cannot be produced in shade. The fruit buds are formed only in sunlight. which is also needed to ripen fruit and bring out those qualities needed for nutrition. Site, too, must be considered. Sloping ground is ideal; so is any other site where air circulation is perfect. But the base of slopes where cold air collects must be avoided. Frost pockets form here in spring, injuring young buds, and many diseases, such as mildew, are prevalent in such a location.

Most failures occur because of poor soil. Fruits prefer a deep, fertile soil; where an orchard is to be established, the first step is to build up the soil with cover crops. Most soils can be conditioned for fruit, but avoid the soil which holds water for any length of time, unless it can be corrected without too much cost. If the soil is naturally heavy, digging in coarse coal ashes to a 2-foot depth may give the necessary porosity and aid drainage. Hardpan (a layer of hard clay under the surface) can be broken up to permit the excess water to drain away.

Varieties of any of the fruits are best chosen to suit regional or even local environment, although there are some of wide adaptation. If you plan an extensive planting, consult your state college, experiment station, county agent or a local fruit grower about varieties for your region.

When varieties are chosen the question of cross-pollination must be considered. Nearly all tree fruits are set by transference of pollen from one flower to another by bees, insects and wind. The flower thus fertilized sets its fruit. Many varieties of apples, pears, plums and sweet cherries will not set fruit from the pollen of their own flowers but only from pollen of a different variety. In such cases the variety is called self-infertile, or self-unfruitful, and it is necessary to set out more than one variety to assure production of fruit. A few self-fruitful varieties set fruit from their own pollen and will set fruit if only one tree is planted. The crop may sometimes be small, however, and authorities suggest that even with these more than one variety should be used to assure a larger harvest. Sour cherries, peaches, with the exception of about two varieties, quince and apricot are all self-fruitful, one tree being sufficient. The following list will be helpful in making your selection.

Dwarf Fruit Trees

Dwarf fruit trees take up less space than standard trees, so many more may be planted in the same space. They are easy to prune, spray and maintain in other ways. Dwarf fruit trees are grafted onto a rootstock or understock which has the effect of slowing top growth, forcing early bearing and controlling the ultimate height of the tree. The fruit itself is normal in size.

The pear, grafted on French quince, has but one kind of dwarfing stock. The apple has 16 different degrees of dwarfness, ranging from 9-foot – very dwarf – to 15- to 20-foot trees semidwarf and even taller.

The variety of fruit is only as good as the plant you buy. Only top-grade plants will give good results. You can buy apple trees 10 feet tall, but because they would need a large ball of soil they would be very expensive. Three- and four-year-old trees in the dwarf class are practical. In the standard class they may have to be cut back considerably to balance the loss of roots. If roots are numerous you have a good start; otherwise secure the top-grade two-year-old tree. These transplant more easily. In this class the tree should be 5 to 7 feet tall with numerous branches and a good root system. Set it at the same depth as it was planted in the nursery; then prune it back.

Standard apples are spaced 30 to 40 feet apart; pears, 25 to 30 feet; peaches, plums and quinces, 15 to 20 feet; cherries, 25 feet; dwarf trees, 10 to 12 feet; semidwarf trees, 15 feet.

Bash Fruits

Bush fruits are comparatively easy to grow and fruit within a short time after planting. But the same care in selecting varieties, soil preparation and planting are needed. There is no problem of cross-pollination for these, except with the blueberry and then only for the purpose of increasing the crop. The brambles, raspberries and black raspberries, require similar culture; currants and gooseberries differ from the brambles only in pruning. The latter are cut back severely after planting, the currants less so. Mounding soil around the newly set plants for the first winter is a help in the colder regions. Rows are spaced 4 feet apart, with the plants set 3 feet apart in the rows.

Two other brambles, boysenberry and dewberry, have long, trailing canes. Plants are set 6 feet apart and tied to a wire trellis; the top wire should be 5 feet from the ground. The canes of the latter two are left on the ground through the winter and covered with hay in cold regions, then uncovered and tied to the wires in spring. In all the brambles the canes which have borne fruit are cut away immediately after harvesting. Ever-bearing raspberries bear their first crop at the tips of the new canes. These same canes bear the following summer.

Blueberries require a distinctly acid soil. The soil can be influenced considerably by the addition of acid peatmoss or sawdust. Either one of these is dug into the soil and applied to the surface as a mulch. Strong two-year-old plants are the best for the beginner. These, depending upon how many you set out, are spaced 4 feet apart in the rows, which should be 6 to 8 feet apart.

It is best to obtain several varieties to provide fruit over a long period.

Strawberries

Strawberries are grown by the hill or matted row systems. In the latter method, runners (young plants which grow out from the established plants) are allowed to root in the row, forming a mat 18 to 24 inches wide. Plan; 18 inches apart in rows 2 1/2 feet apart. In the hill system the initial plants are set in rows 2 1/2 feet apart, the plants set 15 to 18 inches apart and runners removed as soon as they form.

There are two kinds of strawberries: the regular June-bearing and the ever-bearing. Some varieties of the latter form but few runners. It is advisable to remove the first blossoms in spring but to allow the second crop, which appears in July, to mature into fruit for late summer and fall.

Good varieties are numerous. As suggested in the case of tree fruits, it is best to obtain those which are suited to your region.

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