|
Return to RESOURCES
Rose Tending in June
By
James Kilkelly
 "O my Luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June"
An extract from the 1794 poem "A red, red rose" by Robert Burns, Scotland’s
national bard.
Which roses?
Do you have any roses growing in your garden? It does not matter whether the
rose is a floribunda, hybrid tea, standard, patio, climbing or rambling, all
will now benefit from a plant health check up. These checks should ideally be
carried out on a weekly basis from the end of March up until the end of
flowering, so let me detail a few of them.
Aphids and greenfly problems
Check your roses for greenfly; just a few aphids can be dealt with by
spraying with soapy water from an atomizer whereas a heavier infestation will
require the application of a systemic insecticide or a combination systemic
insecticide and fungicide such as "Rose-clear". Some people have questioned
whether they have greenfly and whitefly upon discovering what looks like small
white insects mixed in with the typical greenfly our roses attract; this is in
fact white outer bodies that greenfly shed during their life cycle.
An organic and safe black spot spray
Now I have already mentioned the product "Rose-clear", this is chemical mix
is also commonly used to deal with the other problem our roses encounter, which
is black spot. This disease cause leaf loss, and die back. Black spot is
encouraged by much the same conditions that encourage potato blight, which are
warm, moist conditions. Check your rose’s leaves for black spots with yellow
halos and treat with "Rose-clear" according to the manufacturers instructions
paying careful heed to the safety instructions. If you wish to try to prevent
black spot on your roses organically and safely, you may only have to go as far
as your fridge. Mix equal parts skimmed milk and water, apply this with an
atomizer or a sprayer to the upper and lower section of the roses leaves. This
milky solution causes an invisible and friendly fungus to form, which will help
prevent the formation of the dreaded black spot.
Feeding and fertilizing
Apart from these treatments, there is another way to help your rose’s battle
pests or diseases and that is to keep their vigor up by proper feeding. Roses
benefit from mulching with well-rotted cow dung or garden compost; this will
give you bigger blooms, healthier foliage and strength to survive pest and
disease attack. A 5 cm (2 inch) layer of this mulch is adequate; do not allow
this to touch the stem as it may in some cases lead to rotting. One final
benefit of mulching your roses in this way is the reduction of water loss and
the suppression of weeds, both of these are very important in a dry summer (we
live in hope).
James Kilkelly runs a professional garden design service in Galway, Ireland.
He has a regular gardening column in an Irish regional newspaper. Visit his
website at
http://www.gardenplansireland.com/ He also regularly posts his expert advice
to a gardening community at
http://www.gardenstew.com/
Article's original location:
Rose Tending in June
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Kilkelly
|
