My neighbor the retired landscaper told me to stop pruning my roses in October

He said I was cutting them back way too early and it would kill the new growth when frost hit. Sure enough, that November freeze took out half of my bushes. I lost 3 out of 8. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning older gardener?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecooper1mo ago

oh man that sucks, i feel your pain lol. my neighbor told me to mulch my garden beds with fresh wood chips straight from the tree service, said it was fine. ended up with nitrogen drawdown and everything looked sick for a whole season. i think some of these older guys just repeat what theyve always done without checking if it actually works anymore. hope you save the rest of your roses.

christopher_wells41mo ago

Gotta disagree a bit with you there @alicecooper. I've been using fresh arborist chips for years now (straight from the tree guys) and never had nitrogen issues on established beds. The trick is you just can't mix them into the soil or put them right against stems. Layer them 2-3 inches on top and let them break down slowly, the nitrogen thing barely matters unless you're tilling them in. I think some of the folks complaining about wood chips are the same ones who dig them into the dirt expecting instant results. Keep saving those roses though, but maybe give the chips another shot with the right method.

brown.gavin1mo ago

Hold on a sec though, fresh chips can still cause a little surface nitrogen tie-up if they're really green and you pile them on too thick. The bigger issue is usually the heat from fresh chips breaking down, which can mess with shallow roots if you don't water enough. But yeah, totally agree that most problems come from people burying them in the soil instead of leaving them as a top mulch.