Rose nightmare!!
By Thecat
Lancashire,
United Kingdom 
Help!!
Like everyone else on here, I guess, I always try to do the tried and tested things for my garden. So for my roses I prune in March and feed ( Arthur J. Bowers rose food "with extra magnesium for healthy plants and blooms"). Since then I have followed the reccomendation and sprayed with Uncle Toms Rose Tonic ("The Proffessional choice") every 2 weeks. At the first sign of any blackspot I've sprayed with Roseclear.
Despite all this most of my plants have leaf spot with large brown spots, like they've been painted with creasote! The leaves have dried up and shrivelled. Today I've spent a long time removing the affected leaves then spraying with Roseclear and finally drenching the base of each plant with a tomato food feed. Anyone have any suggestions as to what's caused this problem, comments on what I've already done and what else I can do?
What's really infuriating is that I often see neglected gardens with an old, wild growing rose, which invariably will be thriving with healthy leaves and blooms while mine have the equivalent of private healthcare, NHS and
live in the lap of luxury yet are still prone to every horticultural ailment known to humankind!
And I thought gardenning was therapeutic!!
20 May, 2014
Answers
May I suggest two things. Firstly, I would spray with Roseclear as soon as the leaves are large enough to absorb the chemical; as a preventative before any black spot appears. Secondly, I would not feed until the middle of May. Even rose fertiliser will contains some nitrogen which will make them soft and more likely to frost damage.
20 May, 2014
Agree with Jimmytheone - Roseclear Ultra should be used fortnightly automatically from leafing up, to try to prevent blackspot even if there are no symptoms yet. Seems like you're doing everything you should, assuming your pruning involves keeping the bush open to encourage air flow, but some rose varieties are just very prone to getting black spot - other varieties are much less susceptible, so you may have chosen roses from the susceptible group.
21 May, 2014
Snoopdog & Derekm I was'nt referring to a "wild" rose, but a rose growing wild, that's to say a neglected cultivated plant. As for Mother Nature, yes she's wonderful but you should have seen the state of my garden when she had it to herself!!
Jimmytheone & Bamboo thanks for the helpfull advice which I'll take on board. Been to a garden centre today (for a change!!), and saw a few plants with similiar symptoms. Could it be down to recent weather? i.e. dry for a while then a week of rain or am I clutching at straws? By the way Bamboo I do keep the bush open when I'm pruning.Thanks again.
21 May, 2014
Hi, I didn't think for 1 minute that you were referring to a wil rose, I just happen to think that success or otherwise in a garden, starts at soil level, if your soil is well cultivated and nourished, you give your plants the nutrients they need to fight disease, and grow without the need for continuous feeding, Derek.
21 May, 2014
Thanx Derekm. Yeah your point regarding soil nutrition is probably the ultimate answer. Next year I'll make a point of adding some fresh organic matter at pruning time. Just wondering if a mulch now would help?
22 May, 2014
It might not help the black spot as such, but will be good for the roses, a mulch that is, but there's one problem - black spot remains active in fallen leaves and the surface of the soil around the roses, and having a mulch at the base means its harder to pick up any fallen leaves as soon as you see them.
It might be worth getting a wettable sulphur you can use and applying this to the soil around the roses and the roses themselves. This is usually a good preventative, not sure how well it will work now that you have active infection. Certainly, I'd recommend treating the top of any mulch with wettable sulphur to try to contain the infection. Mulch should be applied when the ground is already nice and moist, not when its very dry...
22 May, 2014
Cheers Bamboo, good info, will give it a go. I've done my best to pick up all fallen leaves as I was aware that they could infect the soil.
22 May, 2014
Hi, I agree with Snoopdog, feed the soil first, and there is very little need for all the feeding, the only thing you may have to spray for is aphids, if you lack ladybirds, Derek.
20 May, 2014