I have a climbing rose I planted in April that's been doing very well. I feed and spray for fungus and pests regularly.
Recently, where I live (zone 7b) we had five days of rain during which I could not spray, and when the rain ended I was surprised to find several of the leaves had been holed by small green worms on the underside of the leaves. The damage is quite extensive.
On Tuesday, our first non-rain day, I physically removed as many of the worms I could find and sprayed for pests, and will spray again tomorrow, and I seemed to have stopped them for now.
Here's my question: do I remove the branches with the damaged leaves in the hope the stems leaf out again, or do I leave them alone?
Also, what are the green worms most likely to be? I'm new to roses so any help appreciated.
By Scott A.
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If the branches show signs of 'bud break' you should be ok leaving them. Keep an eye out for breaks for reassurance but if you see any sign of tip dieback (the tips of the branches will start to go brown and woody), prune back to about an half-inch above the next healthy looking break.
Be sure to angle your pruning cut slightly downwards and away from the centre of the plant. When you prune, try to keep the image of the 'backwards-foreward slash' in your head as a reminder to angle the cut away from the centre-you want your pruning cut to look like this: \ , not /.
Hope that helps:)
Oh! Meant to add that using a systemic pest and feed does amazing things for roses! You apply it around the base of the plant and water it in; it spreads through the whole plant and works rain or shine.
I used to use the Bayer one but there are several out there and they work wonderfully to feed your roses whilst spreading a nasty taste to plant parts-wowsa does that keep ALL bitey critters off! Worms, aphids, beetles, one bite and they back right off, wonderful stuff!
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