In years past, I have recommended applying a product called Systemic Rose Care as a fertilizer and insect preventative for your roses. Bonide and Beyer are two brands that have this product available, and they are basically the same.
Now is the time to make that first application of the granules. You will do a second application six weeks from now and a third application six weeks after the second. I suggest writing it on your calendar so you remember to do it without wondering when you made the previous treatment.
Every year our roses get attacked by hungry caterpillars that defoliate the plants seemingly overnight. The little buggers feed from the bottom of the leaf, and they are the same color as the leaf. Oftentimes the damage is severe before we notice it. That damage deprives the plant of the energy it needs to give us the flowers we want to see.
Talking about problems, quack grass is next on my list. There is a spray available to control quack grass in many different settings.
For example, this weed grass has spread into my asparagus patch. It is perennial, meaning the same plant grows year after year. It spreads by a rhizome root that keeps looking to move further.
In an established bed of asparagus, digging the grass out would damage the asparagus crowns. Grass Beater or Grass Getter are two choices, again under different brand names. Both work well, albeit the effectiveness doesn’t show up quickly.
I sprayed last week before there was any sign of the asparagus even though asparagus is listed on the label (I have this thing about using chemicals like this on my food). The product is safe to use for areas like iris and various perennial flowers and plants that are listed on the label.
Speaking about grass weeds, the other pest is crab grass. Unlike quack grass, crab grass is an annual weed. It grows one season, produces seed and dies. The seed germinates the next season, and you get to deal with it again.
The factor of when the seed germinates is determined by soil temperature. Normally a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent crab grass should be applied a couple of weeks before the lilacs bloom. That is pretty vague, but then the lilacs don’t look at the calendar to decide when they are going to bloom either … it is determined by temperature.
The word pre-emergent is the key to success. That means the chemical has to be in place to prevent the weeds before you see them. If you missed that window of time, you missed the opportunity to prevent the grass and will have to use an herbicide spray if you want to control it.