Disease attacks Masterton park roses

DIEBACK: The two rose beds that have serious disease with the elm tree situated between the two park seats. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

An outbreak of disease in the Queen Elizabeth Park rose garden has prompted Masterton District Council to take urgent remedial action.

Two of 18 beds on the northeastern side of the garden are suffering from severe cane dieback and laboratory tests have identified a strong presence of canker.

Those beds grow Trumpeter and Peace rose varieties and according to the council the problem is made worse by shading and root encroachment from a large elm tree growing directly behind the beds which puts extra stress on the roses, making them susceptible to disease.

The old park rose gardens were uprooted in 2006 and replaced with 18 new beds, each growing a different variety of bush rose, as part of stages 1 and 2 of the Queen Elizabeth Park rejuvenation project. The rose beds were sponsored by individual people or groups.

A report from council officers is to go to a meeting of the Parks and Open Spaces Task Group on April 22 and recommends removing all infected wood along with taking away all soil from severely infected beds.

Work has already started on removing dead and failing rose canes, which in some cases has left the bushes with little foliage.

The cost of the replacement work, including fresh soil and compost and introducing different varieties of roses which are more resistant to canker, will be $7700.

According to the council the location of the two heavily infected beds at the back of the rose garden, means they will continue to be affected by tree root encroachment and shading, mostly from the elm.

Roots from that tree have been found not only in the back beds, but also in the next row along. Further assessments are needed before a course of action to deal with that problem can be recommended. Two options being considered are the removal of the tree (the cheapest option) or the installation of a root barrier.

The root barrier would not deal with the shading issue.

Masterton District Council has not disclosed the projected costs for either option.

Meanwhile those people or groups who sponsored both the Peace and Trumpeter roses will be contacted and informed of the change in species.

Rose replacement work could be paid from the Queen Elizabeth Park general budget in this financial year and any further work would need to be funded from the 2015/16 budget.

Parks and Open Spaces Task Group chairman Gary Caffell said it was better to be proactive and deal with problems as soon as they arose rather than sitting back and letting them develop.

Mr Caffell said it was evident parts of the park were showing signs of age and problems were likely to arise from time to time and these had to be confronted.