Do roses need extra care for winter? Like so many other things in the garden in the Lawrence area, the answer is debatable and depends upon the specific plant variety, growing location and a gardener’s personal preference.

Roses are grouped and referred to by type, including shrub roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniature, climbing, rugosa and others. Shrub roses and rugosa roses are the hardiest and need little extra care. Hybrid teas, grandifloras and others are more likely to need winterization to survive and/or remain healthy.

Location plays a role, though, and even shrub roses exposed to harsh winter conditions can suffer. If roses are growing in a location that is subject to heavy winter winds or alternating periods of freezing and thawing, even the hardiest varieties may benefit from winterization.

Some gardeners live by the theory that if a plant fails to thrive, the best bet is to replace it with something that does. Other gardeners have plants that are almost like children. If you wish to do nothing with your roses because of this, the odds are still pretty good of having plants around in the spring. If you like to baby plants along, winterization is for you.

Winterize roses after a hard freeze and consistently cold weather. Doing it too early can cause decay around the crown of the plant or stimulate late fall growth that fails to harden off for winter.

The first step is to add mulch, compost, soil, chopped leaves or other plant material over the crown of the rose bush. The material should be about 12 inches deep over the crown. There are also special cones and baskets made to protect roses, but they may still need soil, mulch, or other materials underneath to work effectively.

The second step to winterizing roses is to prune and/or tie up the foliage. The main purpose of this step is to prevent canes from breaking off at ground level in the face of strong winds. Some researchers believe that late fall pruning can also reduce the occurrence of rose rosette virus in the following year.

If pruning, use shears or loppers to reduce the size of the plant and remember that the real cleanup should come in spring. If leaving plants tall, use twine or rope to make a supporting loop or two around the entire plant to provide support to it.

In the spring, remove the mound of soil, mulch, etc., from the base of the plant when days begin to stay consistently warm. Remove string or twine if plant has been bundled. This is the time to clean up cuts, remove canes with winter dieback and reduce plant size if desired.