I position my trug directly under the rose I'm pruning, so most of the trimmings fall in (it's much wider and lower than a bucket). I toss the trugfull of waste directly into the green bin (we don't have to bag trash in this area). I don't compost rose clippings, tomatoes, poisonous plants, or anything that looks diseased.

Bagging thorny canes would not be fun.

Sammy,
Instead of a bucket, would it work to drag around a large trash can with wheels with a heavy duty sack already in it? Then maybe you could cut the pieces directly into the trash can. The cans with wheels are easy to drag around and are light weight.

I pile my canes up and then usually run them (carefully) through a chipper shredder after they sit for a couple of months. I say carefully because I've almost gotten slashed with a whippy thorned cane before. Blackberry and rose canes are the worst in that way.

How exciting that you get to retire soon, Sammy! Gean

I pretty much do exactly what you do, Sammy, except I have big kitty litter buckets. But I clip the roses then clip the cuttings into small pieces to put into the yard waste bin or bags for trash day. It is time consuming and labor intensive but I sort of enjoy the process. Any time I can spend outside in my garden with my roses is time well spent I think.

We have no fences either so the whole yard is exposed as well. And I'm on a fairly main street too with a traffic light in front of my house. On top of that composting is very regulated in my community. I can understand why because the neighbor behind me has a "compost pile" that is just a trash heap and attracts vermin. Not something I want in my yard. Not something I want in HER yard either but I'm stuck. However, I'm not sure I would want to compost all the clippings. I'm sure they're full of fungal spores and I wouldn't want to be putting that on the roses. There's enough out there now!

I do what Seil does, cut the thorny canes into smaller pieces and load them into the yard waste containers. Like Seil, I enjoy the process. Mostly. Gotta watch the fingers when I get going fast.

Folly

Go to: http://wildflower-seed.com/ for a pruner unit.

Get the $79 one as it has a sliding handle for your left hand, which makes moving the unit around very easy. It also extends for reaching the hard to get at limbs. They come in different sizes/lengths so get the one that suits your needs. It also has a grab unit next to the cutter that hangs onto the cut off limb so you can move/pull from the bush to the YARD BAG.

Bosmere G530 8.2 Cubic Feet 31" x 18" Poly Yard Waste Bag $29.99 at Amazon

I canâÂÂt locate the manufacture of the trash bag liner/expander that I use but they are simply a piece of what looks like counter top lament. Visualize rolling up a sheet of paper, inserting it into a plastic bag then letting it unroll. Not only does it expand the bag outward but it protects the bag from being punchered. To remove after the bag is full you simple pull up on it as it slides out. My thinking is you could get a sheet of lament and make your own. Mine did come with two cut out hand holds to make it easier to pull out.
So, to recap, use the cutter to prune, yard bag to drag around behind you, then unload into the trash bags using the liner insert. Remove insert and tie up bag.

Hope that helps.

This post was edited by Toolbelt68 on Sun, Mar 30, 14 at 15:09

Our town will pick up the trimmings (!) as brush. I use a 32-gallon wheeled track can (as harborrose recommended). The larger pieces, I hold on to with the left hand, clip with the right, and put them into the can. I use the hand clippers or the loppers to cut the pieces into smaller bits in the can. Then the can is full, I pull it to the curb and dump out. Repeat as necessary. There is a bit of bending to pick up the smaller pieces that fall off, but this is usually minimal.

Retiring in two months! I am green with envy, congratulations!!!

Our county has curb recycling and picks up yard trimmings in those large brown paper lawn/leaf bags. So I cut all my prunings small enough to fit in the bags and try not to overfill and split a bag open. :-)

I have a small compost pile too, but I don't put rose clippings in there because I found they take too long to break down and I was also worried the pile would not get hot enough to kill blackspot and other diseases. Composting is good for kitchen scraps, weeds that haven't gone to seed, dug up grass, etc.