Changed my mind about pruning roses after seeing my neighbor's garden

I always thought pruning roses in fall was a waste of time, but my neighbor in Portland showed me her before-and-after photos from last October. She trimmed them back hard in late September, and by spring her bushes had double the blooms compared to mine that I left alone. I tried it myself this year with my 3 rose bushes, and the difference was night and day after just 6 months. Has anyone else seen big results from fall pruning or is it just a regional thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithf7712d ago

So why is it that neighbors always know more than we do until we finally admit they were right? I was the same way with my hydrangeas, stubbornly refusing to cut them back because I thought I knew better. Ended up with these sad, leggy plants that looked like they gave up on life. Tried my neighbor's method of a hard prune in late winter and boom, they came back looking like they were on steroids. Makes me wonder how many other gardening secrets I've been too proud to learn from the folks next door. Guess my ego cost me a few seasons of pretty blooms.

gibson.seth13d ago

Isn't it funny how one neighbor can totally change what you think you know about gardening? I had a similar thing happen with my lawn after my neighbor down the street started overseeding in late August instead of spring. I always thought spring was the only time to do it, but he showed me his thick grass and I tried it on my patchy backyard. Now I've got a bunch of clover mixed in too because his lawn had that and I figured why not. It's amazing how much us stubborn folks can learn from just watching what works for someone else.