Sad Roses

Hi everyone,

I’m new to forum and I’m loving it so far!

I have some rose questions that I hope someone can help me with?

I have a yellow rose hedge at the front of my property (roses are China Town) which are about two years old. It hasn’t quite filled out as much as I’d like as I’ve had awful trouble with black spot and greenfly. I’ve noticed that last summers black spot really took a toll on the roses health.

This year I’m determined to fight it so I’ve started spraying a hydrogen peroxide mix around the base and the stems of the roses (accidentally used a sprayer which was once used for weed killer but that’s another thread) to kill the over wintering spores.

I’ve also seen a few recipes which include neem oil, baking soda, milk and garlic so will also try these out. Has anyone had any success with these?

My main question relates to when I go to prune them back on St.Patrick’s day. My uncle has told me to prune them back hard to encourage new growth. He said I’ll not get as many blooms this year but it will be worth it for the healthy growth and the ‘bushy’ / ‘hedge’ effect I’m going for.

What are your thoughts?

 

I struggle with Roses here in France and admit that feeding has been lacking..but they start off really healthy and succumb to black spot and yellowing leaves within a month of so..I have nearby a neighbour who has fantastic roses and vast amounts of them to care for, have seen his care, spraying, de-heading. digging around the bases, he obviously knows exactly what is needed but seems like a lot of work to achieve such beauties...My daughter bought me one last year as a birthday pressie whilst on holiday here in her french property. It looked ok but I could see it was not that healthy and was right, within weeks it lost nearly all its leaves...bad stock obviously...Will be interested also to hear of any good answers.
Welcome Sheryll, you have come to a very helpful garden forum with lots of experience in different fields...

 

@DianneW that’s quite interesting to hear as I assumed that my location (North East Ireland) was not helping due to the constant rain!! I’m assuming you’d get much more sunshine but yet still having the same problem!

I’m going to feed one week (Tom’s tonic) and spray the following with one of the combos above. Hopefully this will have some impact tho it’s exactly as you say - they start off ok then boom game over!

 

I don't spray roses for blackspot , I mulch roses in spring with compost / manure to trap BSpot spores from splash back up on to the foliage , it isn't 100% effective like most things but does help , you have to clear up old leaves etc Ideally when they fall off in autumn to help with general hygiene . The spray is a prevention than a cure .

Pruning , they can be cut back hard down to 12cm that how you'd treat a hybrid tea rose and they will still happy grow away and flower . I'd cut back hard if you have weak spindly growth .
Seen as Chinatown is a Floribunda they can be pruned higher up 30cm is most common , they can be pruned even higher up if you want a more bush / shrub rose appearance but pruning is more selective and strategic , flower will be higher so it more of a back of the border sort of pruning .

 

I will take some photos of some that are looking good with new growth and you will soon see the downward cycle a little later on...

 

I dont grow roses but you could try a sulphur spray for black spot.
Sulphur Rose- Roses often develop yellow leaves and black blotches i.e Blackspot & Mildew, which makes the plants unsightly. Use Sulphur rose, a brilliant plant tonic to encourage healthy blemish-free growth.

 

Thanks @Perki I’ll maybe take them down to 12cm as they are so thin and spindly. Unfortunately I can’t mulch as I have slate down but have been feeding with uncle toms tonic via a sprayer and they do seem to respond well to that. Fingers crossed the hydrogen peroxide works and kills at least some of the spores :(

 

Thanks @pete I’ll look this up!

 

The roses I will photo ..two in a planter and were absolutely beautiful, at first the amount of buds the following flowers were a picture...change very quickly...pruned heavyly cleared any leaves and changed some of the top soil..did not spray with anything..very much against any chemicals..Used washing up liquid and water when the green fly appeared...
.Another photo that I will take to show progress..is two other roses that are in the ground against a bamboo trellis of a climbing type...

 

Generally speaking. Once you see Black Spot on your plants, it's too late. The damage is done. Remove all affected foliage and burn, DO NOT COMPOST. Clear up fallen leaves and burn. The spores can live under the soil and can reinfect plants again. A mulch of horsemanure will help to stifle any buried spores. Spaying against Black Spot, is only a kind of preventative.

 

Thanks @Mike Allen I’ve been so strict with the clearing etc and I’m hoping starting to spray now will help a bit. That’s if the weed killer hasn’t killed everything in sight...

 

Point worth remembering. Never use a sprayer for more than one type of spray, and never mix one spray with another. Always clearly label your sprayer.

 

@ARMANDII thanks for welcome, it’s a great forum and I’ve enjoyed reading through the posts!

The rose is ‘Chinatown’ and it was recommended to be one of the best if you wanted a rose hedge as it is meant to be disease resistant (I’d now disagree). I have a beautiful, healthy ‘Sheila’s perfume’ which is huge and never picks up the black spot - I should have planted more of those roses!

The hydrogen mix (3%) (200mls - 4l) was very diluted so I’m hoping it’s ok - I’m more worried about the sprays previous use (weed killer) but my husband claims he throughly washed it after using it over a year ago. Only time will tell I guess. I’ll not make that mistake again!

I definitely up the feeding regime and will try your recommendations