Gardening Pleasures

Posts Tagged ‘roses’

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.

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.