Mickey - You can try what we do here (well, what *I* do). I am zone 5 but I have hundreds of roses that are zone 6 or 7. I mulch the crap out of everything. I put a minimum of 6" of mulch on every rose bush I have... which is a TON of mulch (literally!). So I said to heck with it & just mulched my entire yard. I don't have any grass, just mulch, shrubs, trees (baby), & roses. :D
