Roses are beautiful species of flowers that have lovely scents which a homeowner should have in their garden. Leonard Muzahura, a gardener says roses are a perfect choice for growing a shrub.
There are over 100 species of roses a homeowner can choose from, ranging from erect, climbing or trailing shrubs, which are sometimes armed with sharp prickles.
“However, if one wants to make a shrub, the modern shrub rose is the best and easiest choice to grow because it does not need much care. Modern shrubs are hard roses that bloom all year round with beautiful flowers. They grow in colours of yellow, white, red, pink and more,” Muzahura says.
Ronnie Atuhereza, another gardener says the modern shrub rose should be pruned to increase blooming, control diseases and solve pest problems.
According to him, although modern shrub roses make nice shrubs, there are other types of roses to grow.
He says roses are a woody perennial flowering plant from the family of Rosacea. These flowers vary in size with a different number of petals ranging from four to over 30m, with great shape and fragrances. The most common classes include china, tea, damask, bourbon, rosa rugosa and moss.
The rosa rugosa species is also one of the superior ones because of its hardness, its disease-resistant nature and is easy to maintain. Atuhereza says roses have compound leaves with a terminal leaflet. Others have thorns.
How to control pests
Muzahura says roses are usually attacked by a number of pests and diseases which include aphids that feed on their buds and shoots.
However, most of the diseases are caused by seasonal and climatic changes. Leaf damage in roses is commonly caused by leaf cutting bees, flea beetle and those that can be killed by recommended pesticides like Rocket, Dichlorvos, Dudu and other organic ones.
Thinning and cutting off affected parts of the rose flower prevents pests from further affecting the other area of the plant.
