My neighbor's one comment about my rose bushes totally flipped my routine

I've been pruning my roses the same way for like 6 years, always cutting at an angle above the outward facing bud. Last month my neighbor who used to work at a nursery in Portland said I was leaving too much stem, that it just invites rot in our damp climate. He showed me his own bushes and the cuts were way lower, almost right at the node. I tried it on just two bushes first and within 3 weeks the new growth looked stronger and the old stems weren't getting that mushy black tip thing anymore. So now I'm doing the lower cut on all 14 of my plants and I'm wondering if I should also strip more leaves when I prune. Anyone else get a correction like that that made you rethink something you'd done for years?

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dakota1604d ago

So your neighbor managed to fix something you'd been doing for six years in like a minute? That's gotta sting a little, but at least your roses are thriving now. I guess that's the thing with gardening, you think you've got it figured out until someone with actual plant experience rolls up and drops knowledge on you. Honestly though, I'd be more worried about what else he's judging from his yard, my poor tomatoes probably look like a crime scene to him.