Monty Don shares 'instant' way to get rid of black spots on your roses

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Monty Don has offered his expert guidance on tackling black spot on roses as the British weather shifts, bringing challenges for gardeners.Black spot is a fungal disease that results in dark spots on the foliage and stems of rose plants.

The affected leaves often turn yellow and fall off as autumn approaches.The esteemed 69 year old Gardeners' World host discussed how to handle black spot, suggesting it's a matter of personal tolerance.He advised: "A lot of plants get black spot, but it doesn't affect the flowering and doesn't affect the health of the plant.

It's just unsightly and that, personally, I can tolerate." "If it's defoliating completely, if a plant is suffering and looking bad, and other roses near it are not suffering from it, then that's because the plant is particularly prone to it, so just get rid of it."However, if all your roses are affected by black spot, Monty warned, "you've got a problem".With conditions becoming "more warm and damp", he cautioned gardeners to expect "more fungal problems, not less".On the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine podcast, he recommended: "The only practical thing you can do is, don't water overhead.

You can't stop the rain, but don't wet the leaves, keep the leaves dry.""So water at the base, gather up all the affected leaves that drop and burn them, don't put them on the composite."Monty continued to share further advice for managing gardens as winter approaches."In winter, rake the ground around the plant thoroughly to disturb the spores.