rose bushes

[blackwolf99]

:blob4: Can anyone tell me how to properly care for rose bushes that grow in sandy soil. I don't know exactly what type of roses they are because they were left here from the previous home owner. All I know is they produced red roses.

 

[John Paul McMillin]

with roses, you dont want to get the leaves wet when watering because of potential leaf and stem diseases. Use a drip irrigation to the soil or water by hand. sounds like you have good drainage so keep the soil moist and apply fert when needed. mulch the root zone but not against the stems .prune the spent flowers back to the stem where you can count 5 leaflets. and apply fungicides and insecticides when needed. watch out for japanese beetles and black spot . john ps ladybeetle larvae should take care of your aphids if you plant alot of other flowers around . Please dont use the japanese beetle traps aroound your roses either becuase they just attract more of them .

 

[active]

I usually tell customers who want me to plant roses that they require extremely high maintenence and are not covered by any warrenty.

Depending on the type of roses, HT GF or OR, you need to develop a regular IPM. Cut canes need to sealed with glue to prvent cane borers ect. The pests that feed on roses are too numerous to even try listing them, I actually can't think of any general pests that don't plague roses.

Jim