Banishing aphids from your rose garden

We love our roses, but we aren't the only ones. Aphids love the fresh young buds of our beloved blooms, and the sight of an aphid infestation is most unwelcome! Not to worry, you can tackle this problem in a number of ways.

Beneficial insects

For the least intervention, you can let nature take it's course. This doesn't sound like logical advice, but aphids are the number one food on the menu for ladybirds. Ladybirds and their larvae can eat hundreds of aphids each so if you have them in your garden chances are the aphids will be gone soon! Lacewings, parasitic wasps and hoverflies are some of the other beneficial insects that will naturally control your aphids. You can also squish them with your fingers, or spray them off with the hose (remember to spray both sides of the leaves).

Companion plants

Companion planting around your roses can repel aphids, so try planting annuals and herbs like mint, chives, marigolds, catmint and petunias. Planting companion plants will both repel the aphids but also attract the beneficial insects that eat the aphids!

Using chemicals

There are sprays available such as Neem Oil, Pyrethrum and Rose Spray, which will kill the aphids but also kill the good insects, so we recommend doing this as a last resort. This is because aphids can become resistant to sprays, a similar way that antibiotic resistance occurs. So think of chemicals as your last line of defence and try to use them minimally if the above controls haven’t helped.

For more detailed information on insect control read our blog post ‘An abundance of insects’