Maintaining Your Roses
By Julia Robertson, Fri Dec 9th
While it is true that you will spend more time on rosemaintenance than most other plants, the care you give themduring the growing season can be done easily while simplyenjoying the blooms. Many people choose not to grow rosesbecause they believe that they entail too much work.
Following these simple steps will make your roses beautiful andkeep the plants healthy.
Fertilize your plants every three weeks during active bloomingwith a complete fertilizer formulated for roses. Roses need abalanced diet, as do most plants. You will want to choosefertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This isoften made easier by simply choosing one of the many brands ofrose food available at any home and garden center.
Watch closely for pests and diseases and react quickly todestroy them. Black-spot, mildew, and blight together withinsects, such as Japanese beetles, are some of the moretroublesome rose disease and insect problems. Control is easyand prevention is practical with the regular use of chemicalsthat controls most fungal diseases and detrimental insects. Usepesticides labeled for roses as needed and weekly fungicideapplications to control powdery mildew and black spot. Alwaysapply according to label directions.
If you do not care to use pesticides on your plants there areorganic methods for dealing with many insects. Pesticides do notdifferentiate between the good bugs and the bad ones and you donot want to kill beneficial insects. There are organic soapsavailable for purchase that will deal with most insects. You canalso purchase beneficial insects at your local nursery like thepraying mantis or lady bugs.
Roses require about an inch of water per week per bush. Wateringbushes during dry periods will ensure continuous floweringduring the growing season. Drip irrigation is best to waterslowly, thoroughly, and deeply without wetting foliage.
This can be accomplished by purchasing soaker hoses. These hosesare snaked through your rose bed, preferably under the mulch tohide the hose, and attached to a regular hose when watering.This way watering is a simply matter of just turning on thespigot once a week. Keep the plants mulched with pine needles