Growing Roses Organically
Those who love gardening with roses have an inherent love of nature and thus will do their best to protect nature as much as possible. Organic rose gardening has grown in popularity as it provides a safer, more holistic and environmentally responsible approach to rose gardening. Roses were very successfully grown by people well before the introduction of modern chemicals and there is no reason why we can’t grow beautiful roses without chemicals today. Growing roses organically will increase the lifetime of your roses whilst keeping your family, pets and wildlife safe from harmful chemicals.
Maintaining Balance with Organic Rose Gardening
Organic rose gardening is based on the premise of maintaining the natural balance as much as possible, since nature controls pests very well without human intervention. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides destroy the natural balance between the rose plant and soil organisms such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes and worms. Soil bacteria for example, protect the rose plant roots from fungi and chemicals can destroy the bacteria thus exposing the rose to fungus invasion. In addition, it is possible to get your rose plants too dependent on chemical fertilizers – the more you use chemicals, the more your roses will require in order for them to keep producing flowers.
Maintaining a more balanced ecosystem in your garden will, in general, help ensure that pests and diseases are kept in control. Balance includes having diverse plants in one flowerbed (not just roses).
Compost: the Gardener’s Friend
The great advantage to organic rose growing is that it is much cheaper than the chemical alternative. You can still feed the soil and care effectively for your roses without the addition of expensive fertilizers and pesticides. The most effective way of improving your soil and keeping it healthy is to work compost into the soil of a new garden or put compost as mulch on top of an existing garden. You might want to start a compost pile in a corner of your yard to help with this. Compost can be made by adding all the plant clippings, grass clippings and organic kitchen waste into a pile and allowing it to decompose. It’s necessary to turn the pile every now and then with a spade to ensure it decomposes effectively.
Controlling Pests the Natural Way
Many chemical pesticides have detrimental impacts on the health of your family and also leach into waterways, destroying wildlife and poisoning the water. However, staying away from chemical pest control doesn’t mean you have to let your roses succumb to pests. There are many organic and natural pesticides available on the market that are very effective and much less toxic. These natural pesticides also ensure that natural predators such as ladybird beetles, wasps and birds are not affected and can still act as natural pest control.
There are also some great home-grown remedies such as home-made insecticidal sprays that work wonderfully on pests such as aphids and thrips. Soap has been used for centuries as an all-purpose pesticide. It disrupts insects’ cell membranes, and kills pests by dehydration. The key is not to use too much soap, or you’ll also kill the rose leaves. If you follow the proportions of soap to water in the Soap Spray recipe, below, the foliage should be fine.
1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap (not detergent)
1 litre water
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray bottle as needed.
So be good to your family, the environment and your roses by avoiding toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers and pursue more holistic gardening approach. In the end it will be much more rewarding.
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