Cedar chips on rosebeds
Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood
chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? JimS. Seattle |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
"JimS." wrote in message news:gj6da.108280$3D1.3795@sccrnsc01... Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? Hello Jim, if it is bad my roses in the East bed have never said a word about it...;) As far as I can tell, there would be very little to be concerned about it. Cedar contributes to the acidity of the soil and once it has been reduced to mulch there has to be very little leaching out with watering that could make any significant difference. And it keeps the weeding down, and the moisture in so I guess that is why the divas haven't complained yet. How is the weather up in Seattle? We still have more gray than blue, but we are way up there into the high fifties, and the roses are beginning to wake up even in the upstairs patio. Allegra |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
"Allegra" wrote in message news:gZ6da.131952$S_4.75481@rwcrnsc53... "JimS." wrote in message news:gj6da.108280$3D1.3795@sccrnsc01... Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? Hello Jim, if it is bad my roses in the East bed have never said a word about it...;) As far as I can tell, there would be very little to be concerned about it. Cedar contributes to the acidity of the soil and once it has been reduced to mulch there has to be very little leaching out with watering that could make any significant difference. And it keeps the weeding down, and the moisture in so I guess that is why the divas haven't complained yet. How is the weather up in Seattle? We still have more gray than blue, but we are way up there into the high fifties, and the roses are beginning to wake up even in the upstairs patio. Allegra Hi Allegra, Well, I guess that is what I figured about the cedar chips.....I've had my beds covered with chips for a few years, and always assumed it was OK. But I got a bit worried when Bob in SLC noted not to plant the wood shavings that come with bareroots. Better safe than sorry... might as well ask. I the cedar chips are OK... Seattle weather has been mirroring yours down in Portland....temps are consistently around 50 these days, a few degrees cooler than Portland, but not much sun here either. I saw quite a contrast this weekend, I went over to Wenatchee, WA area (the apple capitol of the world, in case anyone's amused by such!) with a couple of friends to go skiing. Wenatchee is just on the other side of the Cascades Mountains, from Seattle. All the apple trees are still totally without leaves, an eerie knarled moonscape...it looked like a nice sunny day was in-store. Everything is still brown from winter over there. We came over Snoqualmie Pass to the Seattle side, into the rain, and everything is green. Still not much sun around here, but like Portland not much winter either. All my roses are well on their way to awake. A few have totally leafed out already. Two never went dormant this winter at all-- one even bloomed in January. Even the ones I orphaned to the city parking strip are doing great. I suspect it's going to be a sunny and hot (for here!) summer....At least I hope so! JimS. Seattle |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
JimS. wrote in message Hi Allegra, Seattle weather has been mirroring yours down in Portland....temps are consistently around 50 these days, a few degrees cooler than Portland, but not much sun here either. I saw quite a contrast this weekend, I went over to Wenatchee, WA area (the apple capitol of the world, in case anyone's amused by such!) with a couple of friends to go skiing. Wenatchee is just on the other side of the Cascades Mountains, from Seattle. All the apple trees are still totally without leaves, an eerie knarled moonscape...it looked like a nice sunny day was in-store. Everything is still brown from winter over there. We came over Snoqualmie Pass to the Seattle side, into the rain, and everything is green. Still not much sun around here, but like Portland not much winter either. All my roses are well on their way to awake. A few have totally leafed out already. Two never went dormant this winter at all-- one even bloomed in January. Even the ones I orphaned to the city parking strip are doing great. I suspect it's going to be a sunny and hot (for here!) summer....At least I hope so! JimS. Seattle Well, what can I tell you? I went out of plant some cuttings in the back patio, nice, Dutch windows everywhere up there in the gray, gold sky. Decided to bring the Alice Dupont mandevilla I had cut down and brought into the garage last November -she has grown two very long vines already- to plant next to E.Veyrat Hermanos to climb up the arch with a couple of pink and pale lavender clematis that have already began to leaf out. Put all the new rose cuttings' gallon pots with the obligatory plastic bag hats up against the south wall, mesmerized myself at the sight to a couple of ruby throat hummingbirds eating at one of the feeders ( Yes, Spring must be here since only the Annas have been seen around until today) Started to dig the area for the mandevilla, and hear this sound, sort of like a tap, tap slowly at first and then in a matter of seconds, the Second Coming materialized in the form of a halacious hail storm! I mean the entire floor in the patio was white! I was dragging stuff all over the place and trying to escape being pelted by the marble size hail. It took about 15 minutes for the ice to stop coming -and about 2 hours for it to melt. Yesterday was 59, today was 61.- All right, back to square one. I hope the Mandevilla makes it, after I have taken her in and out for over 2 weeks trying to harden the poor thing, only to see her slapped silly by hail when I finally planted her. Is this a sign of things to come in the garden? I hope not. Allegra |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
Hi Jim, What did you learn about the shavings in bagged roses? What's bad
about the sawdust in the bare root rose bags? I'm wondering what to do with it now. Thanks Jane "JimS." wrote in message news:ym8da.107281$F1.3705@sccrnsc04... "Allegra" wrote in message news:gZ6da.131952$S_4.75481@rwcrnsc53... "JimS." wrote in message news:gj6da.108280$3D1.3795@sccrnsc01... Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? Hello Jim, if it is bad my roses in the East bed have never said a word about it...;) As far as I can tell, there would be very little to be concerned about it. Cedar contributes to the acidity of the soil and once it has been reduced to mulch there has to be very little leaching out with watering that could make any significant difference. And it keeps the weeding down, and the moisture in so I guess that is why the divas haven't complained yet. How is the weather up in Seattle? We still have more gray than blue, but we are way up there into the high fifties, and the roses are beginning to wake up even in the upstairs patio. Allegra Hi Allegra, Well, I guess that is what I figured about the cedar chips.....I've had my beds covered with chips for a few years, and always assumed it was OK. But I got a bit worried when Bob in SLC noted not to plant the wood shavings that come with bareroots. Better safe than sorry... might as well ask. I the cedar chips are OK... Seattle weather has been mirroring yours down in Portland....temps are consistently around 50 these days, a few degrees cooler than Portland, but not much sun here either. I saw quite a contrast this weekend, I went over to Wenatchee, WA area (the apple capitol of the world, in case anyone's amused by such!) with a couple of friends to go skiing. Wenatchee is just on the other side of the Cascades Mountains, from Seattle. All the apple trees are still totally without leaves, an eerie knarled moonscape...it looked like a nice sunny day was in-store. Everything is still brown from winter over there. We came over Snoqualmie Pass to the Seattle side, into the rain, and everything is green. Still not much sun around here, but like Portland not much winter either. All my roses are well on their way to awake. A few have totally leafed out already. Two never went dormant this winter at all-- one even bloomed in January. Even the ones I orphaned to the city parking strip are doing great. I suspect it's going to be a sunny and hot (for here!) summer....At least I hope so! JimS. Seattle |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
Xref: news7 rec.gardens.roses:89844
Jim S asked: Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? Any kind of wood will consume nitrogen from the soil. It needs nitrogen in order to decompose. The surface that is in touch with the soil well eat nitrogen and the whole pile will eat the nitrogen from the fertilizers that you apply to the top. If you know this going in though, it is OK to use wood chips as mulch as long as you regularly add nitrogen to the soil. The cedar will probably actually keep insects away a bit. Whether it keeps beneficial insects away as well is unknown by me. Bob Bauer Zone 6 in Salt Lake City http://www.rose-roses.com/ |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
JimS. wrote: Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? I have cedar chips in my rose bed. It works well. J. |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
The amount of Nitrogen used by wood chips is very little as they decompose
compared to the amount used by saw dust. Saw dust is small particles with lots of surfaces that will all start breaking down at once and FRESH saw dust uses up LOTS of Nitrogen -- so you don't really want to throw it on your compost pile, either. If you have so much you want to compost it, just compost it somewhere else other than in or on your beds or your compost pile. It is the bugs that do the composting that eat the Nitrogen and once they are done, then you can add it to your compost pile. -- John T. Jarrett http://logontexas.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Web Design - Program - Host - Maintain - Databases - E-Commerce $9.95 Nationwide Dial-Up ISP new customers welcome... --------------------------------------------------------------- "Jeffrey J. Potoff" wrote in message ... JimS. wrote: Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? I have cedar chips in my rose bed. It works well. J. |
Cedar chips on rosebeds
Mine are covered in cedar chips and now have 2 ft of new growth on them. I
would say use cedar chips, put landscape fabric down first and cover it with 3-4 inches of chips. "JimS." wrote in message news:gj6da.108280$3D1.3795@sccrnsc01... Is it bad to use cedar chips for groundcover on rosebeds? Does the wood chip leach nitrogen when it's on the ground surface? And, is the cedar-water runoff bad for roses? JimS. Seattle |
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