Gardening Pleasures

Posts Tagged ‘insects’

Some years your rose gardening efforts can be severely hampered by extreme weather conditions, diseases, viruses and pests. The dreaded mosaic disease can affect 9 out of 10 rose gardens and black spot is as infectious to roses as the common cold is to humans. But don’t despair or give up.

There are several precautionary measures you can adopt to protect your precious roses.

Unusual weather conditions.  Unfortunately there is nothing you can actually do about the weather and short of erecting a greenhouse, you can’t protect your roses from extreme temperatures or weather events. You can keep an eye on the weather reports and if extreme weather is promised or approaching, take precautionary measures like covering your roses with a tarpaulin to prevent damage from wind and rain.  If extremely cold weather is predicted, wrap the roses in fleece or bubblewrap to reduce the effects of such very low temperatures.

Cleanliness. Keeping your rose beds free of dead leaves, particularly those infected with black spot will help to reduce re-infection.  Either burn or completely remove all infected leaves and other rose debris from your garden.  Do not put this vegetation onto your compost heap – black spot can lie dormant for some time and contaminated compost used around roses, will re-infect them.

Hygiene.  Make sure all clippings, stems and dead leaves are completely removed. Burn or dispose of them in the rubbish bin.

Regular Pruning. Pruning needs to take place on both the outside and inside of rose bushes.  The purpose of pruning is not only to make the bush look nice but also to allow air to circulate throughout the bush. Good air circulation can really help to reduce the spread of rose diseases such as powdery mildew.  When cutting roses for the house, think about your bush and use that opportunity to prune and shape rather than just cutting the flowers.

Seal the Cuts. When you prune, you expose the inner layers of the stems, opening them to air-borne infection and insects. Seal them up with a special plant sealant to reduce the incidence of disease and insects gaining entry to the rose’s delicate inner parts.

Roses are some of the most beautiful flowers in the garden and with regular attention, they will give you years of pleasure.

With the costs of food rising all the time, it’s possible to save money and improve your family’s health at the same time, simply by growing some of your own vegetables. It’s always good idea to choose vegetables your family likes and those that cost a lot in the grocery store.  Don’t grow the ones that are really cheap unless those are your favourties.  Plan carefully and you will have vegetables to harvest early in the season, as well as in the middle and during later parts of the growing season.

Vegetables generally require at least 6 hours of light each day, with some needing 8 hours. Some quick growing veg like lettuce and radishes can be grown between the rows of other planting, like beetroot or corn, which take longer to mature. This way you make better use of the growing area you have available.

Throughout dry periods, vegetable gardens will need extra watering. Depending on what you are growing, most vegetables benefit from at least an inch of water each week, especially when they are fruiting.

It’s always necessary to watch out for insect pests. The earlier you discover a bug problem, the easier it will be to deal with it, but be careful about using pesticides when the vegetable are close to harvest unless it’s absolutely necessary and always read the label.

Organic gardening, using natural remedies rather than chemicals, and is often the healthier and more environmentally-friendly option. Part of the organic cycle is, of course, recycling the vegetable waste onto the compost pile once you’ve harvested your crop.

It is important to protect your vegetable garden from animals looking for a tasty meal. Surrounding your garden with a fence can keep out dogs and some other animals – birds, rabbits, moles and mice are another matter. Other types of protection for your crops will have to be devised to thwart these critters.  The damage done by animals during one growing season can equal the cost of a fence and other protective devices. And, of course, a fence can serve a second purpose as a frame supporting peas, beans, tomatoes, and any other plants that need support.

Careful planning, choosing the right plants for your conditions, installing the right protection for your plants and keeping a vigilent eye on yoru plants as they grow will all add to improving the yield from your vegetable garden.  Yes, it can be hard work but the dividends can be very tasty.

Roses are considered to be the representation of love. From time immemorial, roses have adorned the likes of kings and queens. Even for the commoner, the rose was the moment when he transcended his commonness to aspire for the higher plains. So, the demand for roses has always been good. Rose gardening thus has been in vogue throughout the history of the civilized world. To get a good harvest of roses, you have to look after the garden at all times of the year.

Fungal infection is very common for every breed of rose. In summer, fungus usually appears on the rose petals and black spots also seem to appear on the flowers. Insects like red spiders are the main troublemakers as well.

Normal utilization of chemicals controls the majority of these infections as well as of the sucking and chewing insects. But some insects are also beneficial to your roses.

You can prevent your roses from any type of insects through a lime-sulphur spray in early spring followed by a regular regimen of fungicide every 10 days beginning in mid spring. Remove all the infected stems, leaves, or canes and discard them. You have to continue this program until the rust is gone.

In a word, your roses should be fertilized regularly. If you have planted your roses right now, you can begin fertilization after the first time it blooms. Otherwise, while your roses are blooming, they can be fertilized every two or three weeks. It is also good to remember that chicken manure is great for roses.