I use leaves to winter my roses and hydrangea. When I used to live in
Cleveland, Ohio, I piled leaves onto the rose bushes, then topped it
with a 1" layer of soil to keep the leaves from blowing away. By
spring much of the leaves will have rotted--I guess the rotting
produces some heat. I use pine needles (since I have plenty) for the
azaleas. Mushroom compost is too rich (and wet) for a protective
winter mulch.

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 11:10:45 GMT, "David J Bockman"
wrote:

I wouldn't use mushroom compost as an overwintering insulator for roses. My
personal preference is pine needles, heaped to above the graft point.

Dave

"Anton Jopko" wrote in message
...
Dear Readers,
This spring we planted several roses and they turned out beautifully with
many
blooms. Now we have to worry about the winter.
Is it safe to use mushroom compost to winter protect roses here in zone
5?
a person told me that the compost is high in salt??
Thanks for listening
anton