Feeding & caring for roses - the organic way
At a recent meeting of our local Rose Society an older person commented on the health of her roses saying, “my father had the best roses and all he used was compost and pea straw. Since I’ve using all these fancy sprays and fertilisers the health of my roses has deteriorated.”
I’ve got reasonably robust, healthy roses at my place and I don’t put a heap of effort into them. So what do I do to feed and care for my roses. Well, I don’t use chemical sprays, inorganic fertilisers, or specialist rose feeds (exempting rose mulch).
I do use compost, blood & bone, sheep poo, mulch and rose mulch from my friends at zoodoo.co.nz. I also spray weekly starting in Spring when the plants have begun to develop leaves, using a comfrey/nettle/seaweed spray I make myself.
So what can you do to feed and care for your roses?
Mulch them after pruning with peastraw or Zoodoo rose mulch.
An application of compost and blood & bone in early Spring with a liquid seaweed root feed. Just a handful of blood & bone is about right. The same again in December/January after the first flush of blooms and again no later than mid-March.
I mix in a handful of aged sheep manure too. Aged because it doesn’t create the “burn” that fresh stuff can. It’s pretty hard to get though because my guy digs it out of old shearing sheds. Sheep pallets can be substituted.
Weekly sprays of my special brew. You can use liquid seaweed diluted to the colour of weak tea (too strong and you can burn the leaves).
I keep my eye out for aphids and squish them between my thumb and forefinger before they become a problem. If you’re squeamish blast them with water or use a weak mix of dishwasher liquid and water.
Why this method? Simply put, because it works! Take compost for example. Good compost has what plants need. It doesn’t necessitate guessing what’s wrong with a plant and them choosing the specific nutrient/s or sprays to fix it.
Hope that’s helpful :)