Around 100 volunteers showed up to cut and trim the bushes on Saturday. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Spring, the garden will be back in bloom. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Spring, the garden will be back in bloom. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Saturday’s Rose Pruning Day is a decades-old tradition at the one-acre A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Extra tools were provided by Parks and Recreation staff, who also offered to sharpen and sanitize volunteers’ own tools. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Two volunteers pose with their gloves and tools. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Volunteers dressed in hats and long sleeves for the sunny occasion. 
Pruning the bushes includes cutting off dead or overgrown branches and stems, to promote future growth. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
The event also featured seasoned gardeners, such as Botanic Garden volunteer Peggy Harris. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Even budding gardeners took part in the pruning day on Saturday, as no experience was required. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Gardeners of all ages used pruners, loppers, and shovels to prepare the garden for mulching and feeding. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Pruning the rose bushes ensures that the garden is ready for mulching and feeding as soon as new growth begins in February. Credit: Ingrid Bostrom
Around 100 local gardeners got their hands dirty at the Santa Barbara Mission Rose Garden on Saturday to take part in the city’s annual Rose Pruning Day.
The four-hour event was hosted by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, starting with pruning demonstrations provided by Santa Barbara Rose Society member Dan Bifano.
Although the garden’s more than 1,500 rose bushes are now looking bald and barren, the effort ensured that the garden is ready for mulching and feeding as soon as new growth begins in February. The event has been a January tradition for decades, bringing out budding and experienced gardeners of all ages, who show up with their gloves and tools to trim the bushes across the one-acre AC Postel Memorial Rose Garden — as it is formally known — to promote better growth. By spring, the garden will be back in full bloom.
