I stopped by the rose garden at the county arboretum last Sunday and it was a mess.

Half the bushes had black spot, and one of the volunteer guides told me the new crew hasn't been pruning correctly since March. Has anyone else noticed public gardens going downhill near them?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_park261mo ago

Noticed the same thing happening at our local park's butterfly garden, the city cut the maintenance budget and now everything's overgrown with weeds instead of the milkweed they planted. Seems like a lot of these public spaces are getting neglected little by little across town.

oliverhernandez1mo ago

Have you tried talking to the head gardener directly instead of just the volunteers? I had black spot take over my neighbor's roses last year, and it turned out the crew was watering late in the day which made it worse (leaves staying damp overnight is a killer). Maybe suggest they switch to early morning watering and use a baking soda spray mix (1 teaspoon per quart of water) as a cheap fix until they get the pruning back on track.

kelly3851mo ago

Jumping in here because this is exactly what I've been seeing all over town too. It's like every community space is slowly falling apart unless a small group of people fight tooth and nail to keep it going. The library's pollinator garden near me is the same story - overgrown and sad because the city just doesn't have the money or workers to keep up with it anymore. I think it's part of this bigger trend where we expect volunteers to pick up the slack for stuff that used to be fully funded, and it just doesn't work long term. The baking soda tip is smart though, I've used it on my own roses and it worked way better than I expected. Hopefully the head gardener will listen if you catch them on a good day.