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 (see pictured) 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 (both sides of the leaves).

Hosing aphid off rose — hosing aphids off roses

Companion plants

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

Using chemicals

There are sprays available such as Neel Oil, Pyrethrum, or 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 this blog post: An abundance of insects

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Banishing aphids from your rose garden