Pest Control for Roses.

Roses attract not only the praise and compliments of your friends and neighbors, but the unwanted advances of insects and animals in your area. Nothing is worse than watching your beautiful rose bushes being destroyed in their bloom after many months of hard work. There are a variety of ways to protect your investment ranging from chemical applications to natural deterrents.

Although a number of insects reside in and around rose bushes, the most destructive by far is the Japanese beetle. The infestations are short termed, but they will clean the leaves right off those delicate branches leaving a lacy pattern in what is left. Uncontrolled they can kill the bush. Many choose to spray or dust the bushes with chemicals like Sevin or Diazinon. This will kill the adults and is readily available in any home and garden center. However, these chemicals do not provide an instant kill leaving the beetle to finish its snack before dying. Also, care must be taken with application of the product and in later handling of your roses to prevent accidental ingestion of the poison. If you have a large amount of bushes, this option is often the most sensible.

For the removal of Japanese Beetles from just a few smaller rosebushes, you may simply knock them off the flower or leaf into a container of soapy water or kerosene. This is environmentally friendly and easy to do, although repetitive. Do not use the bug bags that are so readily available. They do attract Japanese Beetles with a pheromone and trap many inside, however they will attract many more beetles to your property than you originally had.

Obviously, the key lies in prevention and deterrence. To prevent the infestation in the first place you must control the grubs, or immature beetles, in your lawn. This is usually done in the late summer through the fall depending on your climate and may take the cooperation of your neighbors as well. There are many chemical products available for eliminating white grubs and are simply broadcast on your lawn. Environmentally friendly products would include beneficial nematodes and Milky Spore disease and are applied in a similar fashion with similar results. It may take a few years for full effect, but by eliminating the newly hatched grubs, you will be saving yourself many future headaches.

Japanese Beetles can be deterred with a number of sprays and plantings, with varying amounts a success reported. White mums, rue, tansy, citronella, garlic, and larkspur may be inter planted with your roses and are known to repel adult beetles.

Have you ever heard of edible flowers? If you live in an area frequented by deer, you know that the favorite snack appears to be roses both buds and blooms. A bush in full bloom is a beautiful thing, but a horrendous sight to behold when every flower has been stripped right off. The tale-tell sign that deer are to blame will be the triangular shaped hoof prints around the rose bed. Deer feed in the shadows of the predawn hours which can mean catching them in the act is virtually impossible. Leaving lights on or music playing does not seem to bother them either.

There are some sprays available in pet stores and home and garden centers, but with limited effect and will often wash away with the rain. The best chance your roses have is your (or your neighbors) dog. More specifically, dog hair has a repellent effect on deer. Simply brush the dog, gather the clumps of hair and spread it obviously around and in the rose bed. The deer respond very quickly and do not come back. The dog hair will eventually decay and by the time it does, the deer have gotten the message.