Grow And Take Care Of Roses This Autumn
Due to the many varieties of roses available, all gardeners, whether newbies or pros, will always find the right type to grow in their yard. Although winter is the best time to start planting roses since they are deciduous, it doesn’t mean you have to wait for this season to grow them. You can start planting them even during autumn so that your garden can have that beautiful, eye-catching splash of colour.
Below is a handy guide for growing and taking care of roses this autumn:
- Choose the type of rose best to plant in your garden. If it’s your first time to grow roses, select a variety that is quite easy to grow. Knock Out is one of them. It blooms masses of cherry-red blooms over dark green foliage. This type of rose is also disease-resistant and blooms all season long. Best of all, it grows well in sunny, dry, and hot conditions – this means that it can be planted and cultivated in nearly all areas in Australia.
- Prepare your soil. Once you’ve selected your roses, prepare your rose bed. Spread compost or manure organics to enrich the soil. This will ensure that the plant bed has sufficient amounts of good bacteria and active earthworms to provide the best environment for your roses to grow. If you intend to grow roses continuously, spread new organic materials on the rose bed at least once a year to ensure a well-balanced and healthy environment for your plants.
- Protect your roses from fungus. Fungi spores typically erupt during autumn. To protect your plants, spray them regularly with alternating types of fungicides. Keep in mind that plant diseases caused by fungi are much easier prevented than cured. You can keep black spots and mildew under control with a regular 14-day spray. However, if the infection seems to be spreading, increase the frequency of spraying but not the concentration of the solution.
- Deal with any insect problems quickly. During autumn, insects are not usually a problem, but there are cases wherein aphids and thrips will appear in rose gardens. If you see them on your roses, use an insecticide. When spraying, make sure all sides of the foliage are covered. This is because many pests require a direct hit to be eliminated. They have to ingest enough of the pesticide for them to die. In addition, fungal spores can also grow under foliage and in crevices on stems and sufficient spray can get rid of them, too.
- Deadhead your roses in early autumn. This will produce a beautiful flush of flowers when Easter comes. The proper way to do this is to prune back the flower to a swollen bud, up to a five- or seven-leaf leaflet and hand span length horizontally. This effectively produces blooms within seven weeks’ time.
To prepare your roses for winter, stop fertilising the bushes in early April. This will help encourage the bushes into dormancy and effectively prepare the harder stems when it’s time to prune them in winter.
