How do I care for roses?

Good‘s new gardening expert Zoe Carafice is ready and waiting to solve your dilemmas! Each question published on Zoe’s blog or in Good receives a fab prize from Tui Garden. This week: ensuring your roses are happy and healthy.

Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!

Q: I have some roses but don’t do much with them. They were already in the garden when we moved in. They were doing fine but now have got black spots on their leaves and some of the leaves are turning quite pale. What do you suggest I do? I have pruned them a couple of times. –Rachel

A: Roses can be daunting; they have a reputation for being tricky and at times it almost feels like you have to belong to a secret society to know how to care for them! But there is really nothing to be scared of – roses should be enjoyed by even the most beginner gardeners. Here are a few simple tips to keep your roses happy:

Blackspot or powdery mildew – these fungal diseases are the most common complaints for roses but can be treated without nasty chemicals. Trim off infected foliage and burn or dispose of it off-site. Never compost diseased foliage as the spores can spread. Spray your plants with sulphur spray or a baking soda solution (1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 ltr water). You will need to use the baking soda spray 4 or 5 times to see results. Another common pest are aphids – these can easily be overcome with garlic spray. You can also plant garlic around your roses to deter pests.

Water deeply and consistently during summer (in the morning so they don’t stay damp overnight) and do not wet the leaves. Make sure you have a good layer of mulch to help retain moisture through the driest months.

Feed well, especially in spring and summer; a healthy plant is more disease-resistant. Feed regularly with foliar sprays such as seaweed or manure tea. Dig in a few handfuls of blood and bone around your roses in spring and a scatter a handful of epsom salts for some extra magnesium. In winter a bit of lime added to the soil will help keep everything healthy. I’ve also heard that banana skins are good for roses so every now and again I throw one under my rose bush!

During the summer, deadhead your roses to encourage repeat flowering. Pruning in winter can seem complicated but actually you can’t go too wrong so don’t overthink it. Start by removing any dead wood then remove 1/3 of the plant. Cut stems back to 1cm above a new bud. Practice makes perfect so relax and enjoy pruning your plants and know that it will become second nature over time.

–Zoe Carafice

Rachel has won a bottle of Seasol from Tui Garden Products! Seasol is a seaweed-based plant tonic that has been used by Australian and New Zealand commercial growers and home gardeners for over 30 years.

The naturally occurring growth stimulants in Seasol promote strong root growth, reduce transplant shock, improve germination rates and increase flowering and fruiting capacity.