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74
winter
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spr ing
than floribundas, which are pruned differently than minis and, well,
you get the idea. Pruning your roses properly can often mean the dif-
ference between a spectacular spring bloom and a “what’s wrong with
my roses?” spring bloom.
For help with pruning your roses, La Sumida Nursery (www.lasu
mida.com) in Goleta offers free rose pruning clinics every year around
pruning time.
As well, the Santa Barbara Rose Society (www.sbrose.org) offers
guidance and pointers when you volunteer to help prune the roses at
the A.C. Postel Rose Garden across from the Santa Barbara Mission. If
needed, the society oftentimes can recommend a qualified rosarian that
can be hired to either show you how or do it for you.
After the pruning is done, allow the
plants to rest and do not feed
until March. At that time serve up a nutritious natural, earth-friendly fer-
tilizer that fortifies and benefits the soil in addition to the rose bushes.
I’d suggest avoiding chemical fertilizers and especially the ones that
have systemic insecticides built in. If you wouldn’t sprinkle it on your
oatmeal, don’t sprinkle it on your soil.
To finish, cover the fertilizer and the entire rose bed with a snuggly
blanket of compost to the depth of from one to two inches without bury-
ing the bud head of the rose. The bud head is the knobby thing at the
bottom of the bush that gives rise to the canes.
Roses may seem like extra work and if you’re one of the few Mon-
tecitans without a climber, hybrid tea, or floribunda there are many that
are disease resistant, care-free and ready to take up
residence in your garden.
Garden
in the