Spring again, and our roses are growing madly with lush sappy growth providing a wealth of food for voracious insects. Our advice is prefaced by the suggestion that you get to know the environment in which your roses survive. The degree of presence of insect pests varies from year to year. We can be pretty sure that aphids will be around our roses about now but our experience, and living in an area blessed with hundreds of finches and wrens, we rarely need to worry about aphids. Some years ago though we had to declare war on aphids and give the birds a helping hand with Pyrethrum* (keep it off the blooms though).

Keep a close watch on the unfolding new growth. Any strange incurving of new growth inevitably means light brown apple moth, and it's better to squash the tip of the growth with your fingers, and then gently unpick the webbing that the grub has sewn to hide in. The new growth can then proceed to grow normally. A little practice at close observation soon enables us to find these pests. Usually we prefer to spray with a Carbaryl* based insecticide before foliage breaks away to prevent infestation, rather than risk a plague in which case, use Orthene to quickly eradicate grubs.

Katydids can be a menace. They are those plump locust-like animals about 4cms long which have the nasty habit of chewing right across the top of a rose bud. If you discover this in your garden, have a close look around on the plant and you will most likely find the culprit disguised amongst the foliage. Dispose of the pest.

If you find rosebuds being bored into from the side, this is another grub pest and I would use Orthene* to eradicate them.

The most important consideration this month is to begin our prevention of Black Spot programme. From mid-September until mid-March we must spray our roses with Triforine* to prevent Black Spot occurring on our roses. Nothing can be done once it is seen on the plants; it has to be prevented from appearing. So get busy now, and ensure that you don't have unsightly foliage on your roses.

* Registered product name.

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