Is it very bad to spay roses with bug/mildew spray and to use lawn feed?

[BridesheadRegardless]

I'm quite new to gardening but am really enjoying it.

I've been buying and using sprays for my roses which have green fly and feed for lawn to make it more green. i just look at whats in the garden centre and think 'thats what I need.'

I suspect though that there's something I don't know and an environmental reason I shouldn't be doing this.

Advice greatly recieved.

I use a small squirt of dish washing liquid and water in a spray bottle for roses/plants with bugs.

Yes brideshead try not to use proprietary sprays etc. 'cos the insects and birds that eat the greenfly get poisoned.

The poison then enters the food chain and larger things die (like bats bees etc).

To be honest, I think it's a bit of a waste of time and money. I'd never worry about green fly on roses, as the ladybirds will come along and clear them off for free, and you get the fun of watching the ladybirds. If I do want to sort out vulnerable plants, I'd do the dish washing liquid trick as well.

Lawn feed is fine as far as I know, but again, frankly I don't bother. If you want to make your lawn look better, trimming the edges will have much more of an impact.

Apparently there's a cycle to pest infestations - the first year of gardening, you may not get any pests as they don't know about your garden yet, the second year, the pests find your garden and run riot, the third year the predators find the pests and move in to balance it all out.

HTH

Yes grendels but lawn feed AND mosskiller?? Not necessary.