Growing roses organically: Avoid using chemicals at all costs

Roses are very attractive to aphids as their juicy new shoots provide easy food for these insects. Aphids also multiply at a lightning speed so within a few days your new shoots can be covered by them. Since the Fifties of the past century people have been indoctrinated by the chemical companies to kill everything which may cause a thread to our garden plants. Aphids, caterpillars, Spidermites, beetles, sawflies etc but also fungal diseases. Weeds? Kill them with poison ☠. We were even brainwashed into thinking that you could use herbicides in your plant borders, underneath roses etc.. It was harmless to the soil and our plants as the products only affected the unwanted weeds... so it said on the label

After decades of uncontrolled use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides we see the truly devastating effects of these products on our environment. Butterflies have been decimated since the late eighties, our pollinators are in dangerous decline and the biodiversity is dangerously low. A major effort is needed to restore our environment, to reach that balance again. We need to eradicate the idea that everything can be solved with chemicals as we are standing upon the ruins they caused.

We need to learn, to understand that we must cooperate with nature to get a well balanced ecosystem in our gardens, in our environment. Today that balance is gone in so many gardens but with a little bit of effort it can be restored 100%.

We as rose lovers should give the good example as many people think that roses can only be grown successfully with lots of chemicals. In reality the opposite is true: In a healthy garden, with a balanced ecosystem, roses are the most resistant and care free plants. But we need to understand some essentials:

All plants and trees in our gardens are standing outside, in nature, exposed to the elements so it's 100% normal to have roses with some defects. Leafs get bruised, get eaten, can get some spots from being outside... That's NORMAL. So don't go panicking if you see foliage which isn't 1000% pristine.

Our roses and we ourselves share the outside with countless of little critters, insects, birds, mamals etc and we NEED most of them to achieve that balanced ecosystem. Stop seeing insects and other living things as enemies because they are not. They all have an essential role to play in the ecosystem so yes, aphids, caterpillars, beetles... they all have a useful purpose. 

Does this mean we shouldn't intervene when we have a real infestation of aphids, sawflies, caterpillars, Spidermites or even worse.. Japanese beetles? No it does not but it means we should not intervene unless it's really really necessary and only with biological products harmless to pollinators and other animals. In 90% of the cases we don't need to take measures if we just have a little bit patience. Aphids can be removed with our fingers, with the water hose and by 🐞 and their larvae. For aphids you shouldn't use chemicals... EVER! Not even Neem oil.

When do we use Neem oil? When we have a very severe case of powdery mildew or blackspot and we always have to remember only to apply neem spray when sun is down in the evening. Spidermites can be treated by making the foliage wet for a few days per week. Spidermites on roses mean they are too dry and there's no good air circulation. Only when they don't go away after you've tried the water method you can use Neem but not earlier.

Caterpillar will get eaten by birds, by European hornets etc.. and we can inspect our roses ourselves and remove them when we see damaged leafs. Caterpillars don't die from Neem so it's useless to use it. Remove them yourselve or let nature do its thing. 

Strengthen your roses by giving them enough humus and by using organic foliar spray to make the foliage more resistant to diseases. I'm using Algovital plus, based on seaweed, to strengthen the foliage but there are much more good products available on the market.

Use your common sense when it comes to growing roses. Artifical chemicals have no place in a healthy garden. They are poisoness to mycorrhiza too. 

The 🐞, our friend against aphids 

Children of the 🐞, an even greater enemy of aphids