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Subject: Re: Companion to roses
From: "Bill Robinson" <roseguy@gte.net>
Organization:
Date: Wed, 16 May 01 09:42:47
Message-ID: <MOD$010516.674@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



There are many who swear by the use of garlic as
a companion plant to roses. . . I don't happen to
be one of them but I've been growing roses for a
number of years and have been in charge of the
Victorian Rose Garden at the Los Angeles County
Arboretum for a number of years and the way I
deal with pests in the garden is by plain, simple,
good gardening and we have never used a drop of
any pesticide nor any "organic" home remedy.

We built a really good soil by the generous application
of well composted tree trimmings, year after year.
We use as fertilizer a mix of fish meal, fish bone meal,
kelp meal, blood meal, feather meal, and volcanic ash.
We use this fertilizer in moderation . . . lots of
pests and disease problems are the result of too
much fertilizer. We only use those roses and companion
perennials that we know from experience do well in
our environment and their place in the garden is based
on their actual performance . . . if they don't do well,
they are removed from the garden; i.e., "pitched".

We also keep a very clean garden. We hand strip all of the
foliage from every rose during the winter (it never
gets cold enough in L.A. for our roses to go into
true dormancy. . . we strip primarily for reasons of
sanitation but also to give us a better view of the structure
of the plant so we can of a better job of pruning), we rake
up ALL of the plant debris following the stripping and pruning,
wash every roses with a strong blast of water and spray with
a light dormant spray oil (Sun Oil from Gardens Alive also
for sanitation) and add a fresh, clean layer of well composted
tree trimmings over the whole garden.

We prune and dead head by the book.

I've been tending this garden for seven years . . . we have
never had a serious problem with either pests or disease in
that time. See our web page at http://victorian-rose.org

Bill

Bill

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