SPRING - ROSE CARE

(Suckers – we all have them, but how do we get rid of them?)

How did your winter planting go? Your roses should be well under way by now. You know, one of the things associated with lifting and re-planting roses is the fact that root damage can lead to the appearance of suckers. Suckers are new growth that emerges from the ground within 15 cms (6 inches) of the plant, but which is obviously not the hybrid itself. The differences are sometimes difficult to recognize but with careful examination, presence of true suckers can be observed as: Stems are thinner and appear to be a continuous upwards-growing stem, which never sets flowers. Foliage of the sucker is paler than the hybrid, leaflets are smaller, finer and more numerous to a bract - seven or nine, compared to the usual three or five for the hybrid. They arise from below the union of hybrid and understock (there is usually a knot of wood at ground level where the hybrid commences). Do not confuse suckers with hybrid watershoots which emerge. These appear somewhat similar, but arise from the union or above and are essential to the youth and vigour of the hybrid and are of a more solid and substantial nature. The removal of suckers takes great courage for we must perform some deep surgery upon our loved one. Fear not, the rose will survive. A sharp spade or knife is essential. Proceed as follows: Open up the ground and dig carefully until the source of the sucker is exposed. If the sucker is arising from a root at any distance at all from the plant, trace the root back and cut it cleanly away from the base of the plant. Pull the root with sucker attached from the ground and burn it. If the sucker is coming from the understock itself, using your knife (a budding knife is ideal for the purpose), cut into the understock above and below the sucker in such a way that a notch of understock is cut away with the sucker attached. Fill the excavation with soil, press firmly and give the plant a half-bucket of water to remove air from the area of our labours. Don't be hesitant if you find a sucker, roses are extremely hardy and readily replace root growth. It is necessary to remove root suckers as they greatly reduce the vigour of the hybrid and in a matter of two years will take the plant over. You may have noticed swarms of aphids on the new young growth of your plants. These do considerable damage to emerging growth when in such numbers, retarding growth and malforming leaves. Keep them under control with Malathion or Metasystox as directed. By late October the plants are growing so quickly that aphids cease to be such a problem.

Laurie Newman

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