Garlic cloves can be planted with roses to repel aphids.
Roses and garlic are mutually beneficial when planted together. Garlic exudes a biochemical that is a repellent to aphids, a common rose problem. Aphids are small green or black soft-bodied insects that mass in colonies on tender rose buds and chew plant tissue. "Most plants produce defensive chemicals that help fend off insects and diseases," according to Cornell University Extension garden coaches. Garlic and other members of the onion family also control fungus black spot on roses. Garlic can be added to an established or new rose bed. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Plant Roses and Garlic
1. Plant a rose bush in an area that receives six to eight hours of sun per day and has well-draining soil. Dig a hole 15 inches deep and 18 inches wide. Add two shovelfuls of mature compost to the soil you removed from the hole and mix together. This becomes the backfill. Add a small amount of soil into the hole to form a cone. Set the rose plant on the dirt cone and spread its roots outward. Fill the hole with remaining soil. Water thoroughly and allow the soil to settle. Add more soil if necessary to make it even with the surrounding ground level.
2. Separate garlic cloves from the bulb. Each bulb contains 12 or more cloves. Plant 3 to 4 inches apart, 12 inches from the trunk of the rose bush. Place each clove ½ to 1 inch deep. Set cloves with the thin neck in an upright position in the ground.
3. Harvest garlic bulbs each August for re-planting around roses. Dig up bulbs and allow green tops to dry. When dry, cut tops and roots to within 1 inch of the bulb. Re-plant each clove in early spring as roses begin their re-growth.
Tags: each clove, rose bush