can veggies, herbs and fruit be planted in with roses? anyone know?

[NappiesGalore]

someone mentioned that you have to check to see if theyre compatible...pest issues...and whatnot.

i have an existing but decrepit and unloved rose garden which i want to colonise and use for my veggies and fruits etc. can i do it and keep the random rose bushes too? theyre quite pretty...
tia

I don't know - I've always planted my veg close to flowers because my garden's tiny!

The only issue I can think of is that some types of roses are a magnet for aphids and such. So you might do better with veg that didn't have a problem with aphids.

chives and garlic go with roses

I would just go for it, I have all sorts of random things planted together as I have limited space, we've turned our tiny front garden into a veggie patch and then have a border in the back garden which I always plant the extra tomatoes, peas etc in, which tend to share the rose trelis actually. Some herbs like dill, which I think is pretty I always chuck in with my main border.
My veggie patch is a little more organised this year but I've put in rows of statice and marigolds and beautiful blue sweet-peas with the runner beans etc to make it look pretty. As long as you keep on top of competive weed species, roses and veggies should grow hand in hand perfectly well.

oh goody!
now all i need is some easy, attractive, low fencing...

Definitley - mixed gardening is the way to go for the best pest control. Planting leeks or onions in roses keeps greenfly away and marigolds and carrots go well together too if you want to add them to the mix.

There are lots of books about 'companion' gardening - maybe your local library will have one?

garlic will help to keep the aphids away from your roses.

You could also plant some colrful 'cut and come again' lettice.

my lettuces have been a bit disappointing so far... but i shall persist. they seem to taste really bitter, even when just baby leaves (both little gem and cos varieties.) and rocket i love and grow, but it doesnt half go to seed quickly...grrr...

im playing about with 'micro greens' at the mo - growing salad and herbs from seed but cutting and eating when very very young to eat when sweet and tasty matey. they dont get past the seed tray. takes a bit of planning to keep in constant supply tho...

i am v encouraged btw, so thanks all for your assistance. i just need to sort fencing out (to keep my dc as well as a billion hungry rabbits off my plants) and i am on it! got loads of stuff in pots but want it all in one spot so i can potter....y'know.

ok, so next question: can i hack the apple tree, other little tree (dunno what it is) and the rose bushes right back now or do i have to wait for a different time of year?
(i really do know bugger all about gardening. but im learning!)

oh, sorry; tis i, nappiesgalore.

think it should be later in the year but I will let someone more knowledgeable come along and answer that with more confidence.

Pottering is a good activity. Highly recommend it.

Thought of anyother one for roses - I think I remember coriander and basil are good companions to roses. Even if you keep them in pretty pots next to them, it'll still look nice and do the job. And both go lovely in salads.

a good place to start experimenting with companion planting

no don't do any hacking now! if you hack the apple tree you will (a) not get any apples and (b) probably encourage disease to enter the plant. ditto with the roses - you'll lose the flowers and might make them diseased. Let them be for the summer, and prune them back in the autumn (oct/nov, once they've stopped growing for the year, and it gets a bit colder so there aren't so many bugs around)

btw you don't NEED to prune apple trees much, but obviously if they are diseased or overgrown or neglected etc it is a good idea. use a sharp lopper or saw though)

goodness. thanks folks!

am going to see somone about replacing the fencing tomorrow - to keep the rabbits and the toddlers out. equally destructive i find.

Have a look in your library, or on eBay for a copy of 'The Ornamental Kitchen Garden' by Geoff Hamilton. This showed you exactly how fruit, veg, flowers & herbs could all co-exist quite happily and look really good too. It was also a TV series, which still gets shown every so often on UKTV Gardens.

Personally, I have a titchy garden and have always grown herbs amongst flowers - stuff like bronze fennel, chives, purple sage, rosemary ..... I've also stuffed in onions here there and everywhere for the 1st time this year though really just as an experiment as I suspect they'll be shaded too much from the other things. All other eatables are in pots and growbags ... will probably only be enough for 1 or 2 meals but I just wanted to see what home grown stuff tastes like.

catsmother, im like you; tis all in pots and growbags and im growing everything that takes my fancy atm, just trying to ork out what i like growing, and whats the most rewarding. have had a reasonable potato crop from 2 bucket type things in last few days... slightly disappointingly, they taste...well,... like potatoes really. i guess i buy good quality food generally, soi i dont really notice much, if any, difference!! i still love doing it tho. theres the pottering to be enjoyed for one thing...