Caring For Roses Isn't Hard But It Takes Knowledge

By Twyla Ness

When you first start to learn rose gardening, you probably have visions of large, healthy bushes with lush, velvety flowers growing everywhere. This is what you're aiming for, but you also must keep your feet planted firmly on the ground and recognize that caring for roses involves a lot of work. You need to keep your dream garden before your eyes, while simultaneously preparing to deal with pests and diseases that might attack the garden. Only by knowing how to deal with these problems can you make your dream a reality.

Of course prevention is where you start, with a garden design that includes proper soil drainage and good air circulation, as a defense against fungus. Caring for roses means planning for their protection before disease or pests even enter the picture.

Keep in mind that the hybrid tea rose falls prey to diseases more easily than other varieties. Shrub landscape roses are much more resistant, so at the very least you should have a mix of the two types of roses, to help minimize the incidence of disease.

If you do discover pests or diseases, though, often you can nip them, as it were, in the bud. Pruning roses below canker or black spots can often eliminate those problems. Be sure to throw away the diseased branches; never mix them into a compost bin, or they could spread the disease the next season. With rose care, you need to maintain constant vigilance against tiny insects that might suck juices from the plants, and fungus and diseases that might harm their structure.

Creating a rose garden that is healthy and well grown is the ultimate goal of all the work you do. You may have to consult a professional gardener for advice if you can't solve the difficulties you face. But often you can eliminate the problems, either by spraying against pests that appear, or simply pruning off branches that are diseased. Caring for roses doesn't just mean planting and watering, and then crossing your fingers and hoping they will do well. It requires good preparation and care during the life of the plants and swift, knowledgeable action when something threatens them.

Employing some of the above gardening tips can help either to prevent or to deal with disease and pests that might attack your roses. Often the solutions to such issues are as simple as doing a little strategic pruning or using a spray when unwanted insects first appear. Caring for roses starts with soil preparation and the design of the garden itself, and moves right through the life of the plant, as you keep a watchful eye and deal with problems as they come up. This is the strategy for creating a healthy garden. - 29857

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