Rose Garden Pests

Archive for January, 2010

My unusual garden story about weeds or pests – Part 1

January 24th, 2010

I am a city dweller. Surrounded by traffic, neighbors, restaurants and retail. After fighting my way home, through gridlock and smog, I retreat to the sanctity of my city garden. It may be small in size compared to most gardens, at most 100 square feet, but it is my escape. Hardy rose bushes, assorted wildflowers, and the occasional potted tomato plant survive among the chaos. I love to stretch out on my lounge chair, wine in hand, and let the scent of roses lull me into a sense of peace.

This year I noticed the roses were not as brilliant, and not as aromatic, as past years. They seemed to be struggling against an unknown pest. I weeded, watered, fed and mulched to no avail. All seemed lost.

Then one day, as I lounged in my chair contemplating the change in my garden, I was joined by my 145 pound Irish Wolfhound. He sniffed the glass of wine and curled up at the foot of my chair. The spring breeze seemed to lull us both to sleep, until a neighbor raised a window and the music woke us. My wolfhound stood, stretched, yawned. He walked over to the flowers and stopped to appreciate the aroma. Then he carefully stepped over the small fence I had set up to keep the dogs out of the garden bed. He wound his way past the thorns. Then horror of horrors, he peed all over the rose bushes. I could almost hear them gasp! He carefully stepped back over the fence and resumed his nap. Mystery solved! Higher fence needed and very glad I keep the tomato plants in pots.

How to reuse your coffee grounds in the garden

January 24th, 2010

Yes! Those used coffee grounds you have been tossing out can be used as fertilizer in your very own garden. Spreading coffee grounds on the soil will help your plants grow and thrive to their fullest. Coffee grounds are rich in nutrients, and will act as a fertilizer in the soil. Some of the nutrients are Nitrogen and Tannic acids. Roses seem to be the flower that benefits the most from coffee grounds in the soil. Gardeners have reported that their roses are larger and more colorful when coffee grounds were used in the fertilizer.

The coffee grounds will also help to keep those tiny pests out of your garden. Many insects, such as ants and slugs, are known to strongly dislike coffee. Sprinkling the coffee grounds will help keep these insects from eating away at your flowers, vegetables, and plants. Also, cats and other animals will not come into the garden and use the bathroom anymore. Coffee grounds help to ward off moles and other burrowing pests. The best time to put the coffee grounds out is right before a rain or a watering. The water will trigger a slow release of nitrogen into the soil.You will surely enjoy your new and improved flowers, plants, and vegetables with this good for the earth gardening tip.

Rose Garden Can Be An Owners Pride

January 22nd, 2010

The beauty of the rose garden can never be underestimated. Belonging to the genus Rosa, roses have dominated literature and history by being associated with beauty, love, war and politics. Botanically the genus Rosa has 150 species dispersed around the northern hemisphere.

The Origins

Cultivating roses in gardens probably began in China around 5000 years ago. Various anecdotes and references to the rose are also available during the Roman period and 15th century England. Josephine, Napoleon Bonapartes wife, was believed to be very fond of this flower and took great interest in cultivating a rose garden a little away from the heart of Paris. In the late 18th century, cultivated roses were introduced to Europe from China. Modern day roses are usually traced back to this ancestry.

Kinds Of Roses

If you would like to cultivate your own rose garden, there are five kinds of roses to choose from:

1. Species rose. These are the variety of natural roses as gifted to us by genus Rosa. Vigorous and disease resistant, they are naturally abundant in the northern hemisphere. You may often find them lying on the ground or climbing upright with simple 5 petaled flowers varying in shades from white to pink to crimson. They mostly bloom in early summer and the most familiar species is Rosa rugosa owing to easy maintenance and disease resistance. Rose lovers may grow them in their rose gardens owing to their historical significance and easy maintenance.

2. Old European garden roses. This revered assembly represents the hybrid group of roses that prevailed prior to the 18th century and include Gallica, Damask, Alba, Centifolia, and Mosses. Rose gardens of this group enjoy a reputation of thriving better on cooler zones.

3. Repeat blooming old roses. This hardy group of roses are a gardeners delight. They usually grace a rose garden with their exquisite bloom & fragrance, tolerance to cold climes and disease resistance. However these roses lack recurrent bloom throughout the summer.

4. Modern Rose. Consisting of hybrid tea, floribunda and grandiflora, this species was born in 1867 when hybridzer Jean Baptiste Guillot cultivated La France in his rose garden.

5. Shrub roses – While all roses are shrubs, this group of roses generally refers to those of the genus that do not fit into the other groups. They can add variety to any rose garden and are marked by their rounded shapes, free flowering, winter hardiness and disease resistance. Popular members of this group are English Garden Roses,David Austin Roses, Sub-Zero Roses, Dr. Buck Roses, Kordesii Roses, Canadian Explorer Roses, Parkland Roses, Meidiland Roses, Hybrid Rugosa and Hybrid Musk.

Selecting The Rose

After finalizing the group that you would like in your rose garden, you may have to choose the grade of rose. It is important to remember that you need to choose a variety that will suit the size of the garden and the local clime.

Grafted roses, which you may purchase for your rose garden, are usually based upon American Nursery Standard grades 1, 1 1/2 and 2. Grade 1 plants are supposed to be the best of the lot and are therefore premium priced. Usually they have three or more canes with 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The roots are usually large and well developed. Second in the order of quality are the Grade 1 1/2 roses; they are usually marked by two strong canes and can be nurtured to the Grade 1 quality. Grade 2 roses are usually termed as the “bargain” or “cheap” roses.

Buying The Rose

It is very important to enquire and then decide on the right source to purchase plants for your rose garden. Choices are rampant. Your local garden centres, retail outlets or the mail. It would be wise to select a reputable dealer who would ensure quality.

A rose garden needs good care and nurturing. Ensure that you seek proper advice to plant and prune the shrubs, add the appropriate fertilizer, secure pest control treatment and take special care of the shrub during winter. Proper care and technique added to your enthusiasm will guarantee you a blooming rose garden the next summer.

How to keep deer out of your garden – Part 2

January 22nd, 2010

Something that deer hunters will tell you is that different species of deer behave differently. So in a lot of cases, what is true of one kind of deer, isn’t necessarily true of another.

For instance, Black Tailed Deer are tremendously observant of their surroundings. If something is out of place, they know it, and act much more cautiously than they otherwise would. Flags tied in the garden may actually deter these deer, if they are rearranged often enough that they don’t start becoming just the same old thing. On the other hand, mule deer are not easily deterred by something that simply looks different. They are much larger than most other deer, so they don’t bluff as easily.

This presents a special problem in areas where there is more than one kind of deer, and if you aren’t sure what their habits are. This may make it difficult, but it isn’t insurmountable.

In order to do so, we need to concentrate on what is common to all deer, rather than just the behavior. One thing that they have in common is that all deer have a very good sense of smell. This gives us an excellent weapon for keeping deer out of the garden, and here are three ways we can use this:

Deer are very offended by the scent of Irish Spring brand soap. (Deer hunters, take note if you wash with Irish Spring. It may smell good to us, but it doesn’t to deer.) Take a bar of Irish spring and a potato peeler, then between the rows of the garden, and around the edges, peel thin strips off of the soap and leave them on the ground. This does not harm the vegetables, nor does it give unusual flavors, but it will repel the deer as well as a few other animals that can cause damage to a garden.

Deer are purely vegetarian, so they tend to be offended by the aroma of cooked meat or fish. If you are a fisherman, when you catch trash fish, rather than just chucking them, put them in a pot, cover with water, and boil them. After about an hour, stop cooking and allow cooling. If you have cats, ladle out the fish meat. This is a special treat to most cats. If not, the meat, buried, makes excellent fertilizer for roses and other plants. Pour the liquid that remains, between the rows of the garden. Not only will this repel deer, but it will also fertilize the vegetables. Do you like 1 pound tomatoes and heads of lettuce the size of basketballs? It is possible using this method. Note however that the effects are usually not long lasting, on the order of a week at best. Of course, that also gives you an excuse for doing more fishing, if you need an excuse.

Mothballs are offensive to humans. Imagine how they are for any animal with a good sense of smell! Deer, skunks, dogs, cats, and many other animals are repelled by the smell of mothballs. Place mothballs around the perimeter of the garden (not between the rows). This produces an aroma barrier that the deer hesitate to cross. The down side is that the mothballs will dissolve over time, especially with rain or sprinkling, so they will need to be replenished.

I’ve used all of these methods to keep deer out of my garden, even when they were common in my front yard and were decimating gardens that were fairly nearby. They all work. I won’t say that they work perfectly, but losing one or two plants is preferable to finding that every vegetable in the garden has been eaten to the ground.

The question is, which one are you going to try first?

Natural insect and pest control agents for your garden – Part 1

January 18th, 2010

Natural pest controls can be used in the garden to dissuade bugs that bother the garden and the gardener. You do not have to practice organic gardening to appreciate how well natural pest controls work in the garden. And they tend to be safer and easier to use than chemical controls.

Natural pest controls for bugs that bother the garden:

The key to natural pest controls is to treat your garden with preventative products such as natural repellents, dormant oil sprays, and soapy water sprays with baking soda. Consider releasing Preying Mantises and Ladybugs in your garden. (But if you release beneficial insects, then spray with a broad-spectrum insect killer, you’ve just wasted your money!) Treat the soil for grubs, and apply beneficial nematodes. These methods have been used effectively in organic gardening.

For small insects that attack your plants by sucking out their juices (like aphids!), natural pest controls like horticultural oil and soap are a great deterrent. Spraying with soapy water works well, too. To make a Soapy Water spray: mix non-scented, non-antibacterial dish soap with water. Letting dandelions grow as a “trap-crop” is an organic gardening trick (aphids would rather eat a dandelion than a rose any day.) Scale, Spider mites, Leaf rollers, and other pests can be controlled with horticultural oil, a soapy-water spray, or a general insect-repellent to discourage these pests.

The best way to get rid of larger pests like Japanese Beetles, Slugs and Stink Bugs is handpicking. Pick them off your plants and drop them into a bucket of hot soapy water. Or squish them. This is a great job for the kids. Or put out beer or fermented fruit-juice in a steep-sided container and let them drown. Apply a natural pest repellent like garlic or pepper sprays, or cedar-based products like Cedarcide.

Natural pest controls for bugs that bother the garden-er:

If you or your neighbors have pets, you may have Fleas. The best natural pest control for fleas is diatomaceous earth. Flea Away is even safe to use on your own pets. It may also take care of slugs and other small insects in the area. If you live where Fire Ants are a problem, there is a great temptation to not even try organic gardening. But there are natural pest control products for ants that work as well as conventional products. Treat the mounds with Cedarcide, an orange-oil product such as Orange Guard, or boiling water. Then treat the yard with ant baits which contain Spinosad like Green Light Fire Ant Control. These will inhibit the ants ability to reproduce. It only affects certain types of ants, so it will not affect your beneficial insects and is safe to use in organic gardening. Mosquitoes can be discouraged with natural pest controls such as citronella torches, and yard sprays with mint or citrus oil in them. Use a citronella or cedar-based spray for yourself and your family.

Finally remember that natural pest controls will not save a plant that is unsuited to its environment. Choose plants that do well in your area, native plants, and ones that are disease and pest resistant.

Rose Garden Pests

Archive for January, 2010

My unusual garden story about weeds or pests – Part 1

Related Posts:

How to reuse your coffee grounds in the garden

Related Posts:

Rose Garden Can Be An Owners Pride

Related Posts:

How to keep deer out of your garden – Part 2

Related Posts:

Natural insect and pest control agents for your garden – Part 1

Related Posts: