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6 Fashion Tips for Gardeners
Clothes and skin cream are far removed from potting out your begonias, or digging a trench for a line of potatoes. But the clothes you wear are important for your protection...read more on organic gardening
Grow Your Own SIMPLE Tea Garden
Materials Needed 1 decorative clay or metal planter 1 package of clay pellets (approx. 30 pellets) 3 packets of organic tea leaves seeds (YOUR CHOICE) Grow-rich or...read more on organic gardening
Organic Fertilizer Manufacturer in the Agriculture Industry
With today's growing environment concerns, growing plants the organic way seems to be the most logical, not to mention the safest gardening method available. More and more...read more on organic gardening
Fall Pond Cleaning
Great question. The answer is it really depends. Doing a full pond cleaning during the colder winter months can be very stressful on your fish. However, if the pond is...read more on organic gardening
Planting River Birch Trees in Solebury Pa
River Birch Trees are fairly easy to plant because they are fairly rugged and durable. Yet to plant or transplant them you do need to follow some basic guidelines. We have...read more on organic gardening
Organic Roses in the Flower Garden Part 1
Many people believe growing their flowers and vegetables organically is healthier for them and their environment. It is natural that you may wish to grow your roses this...read more on organic gardening
Natural Organic Fertilizer is Dependable
Home gardening has become a common pleasurable diversion for most people. There are many ways to making a wonderland out of your backyard and all you need for this is some...read more on organic gardening
Interior Decorating Themes What s Your Decorating Style
There are a variety of decorating themes from formal to informal and everything in between. Which one best describes your decorating style?
Formal Traditional
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"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 atomiser 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 atomiser 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 fertilising
Apart from these treatments, there is another way to help your rose’s battle pests or diseases and that is to keep their vigour 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).
About the Author:
James Kilkelly runs a professional garden design service in Galway, Ireland. He has a regular gardening column in a Irish regional newspaper. Visit his website at http://www.gardenplansireland.com/ He also regularly posts his expert advice on
http://www.gardenstew.com/ Article location: http://www.gardenplansireland.com/articles/article31.html
Read more articles by: James Kilkelly
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Written by:
James Kilkelly
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