Roses become thorny issue

STRUGGLING: The arbour at the southern end of the park, with the rose garden on the left.PHOTOS/LYNDA FERINGA

The sorry state of the rose arbours at Masterton's Queen Elizabeth Park is again in the spotlight as the district council grapples with what to do about them.

A task group charged with caring for the town's parks and open spaces wants the northern arbour, in front of where the old toilet block stood, dismantled. It has received a quote from Progressive Engineering for $25,000 for work on the arbours, including the removal of the northernmost one.

At a recent meeting, the task group decided to recommend to Masterton District Council that work on the arbours be included in the annual plan.

This would involve public consultation and the work would be paid from the park's Stage 4 rejuvenation budget.

Strictly speaking, the northern arbour is not a true arbour but more of a steel screen erected to hide the visual impact of the old toilets, which have now been demolished and replaced by state-of-the-art toilets.

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson has also signalled she would like landscape designer Sarah Poff to have some input into what happens.

The consensus has been that the roses planted on the two arbours have not been successful, especially the Dublin Bay roses on the northern arbour.

Rose expert Glyn Saunders said he had strong feelings about the failure, not only of the arbour roses but also of the rose garden inside the park.

Mr Saunders said the construction of the arbours had been controversial from the start and a far better bet would have been constructing arches matching those erected in Queen St.

He said he and Mark George, who was at that time in charge of parks and reserves work but died before the arbours went up, had favoured the arches.

Not only would they have been in keeping with what had been erected in Queen St but the climbing roses would have been suited to them and, with the benefit of proper care, light and air, they could have been expected to have bloomed in abundance.

The care of the roses in his view "and many other rosearians in Masterton" was "an example of how you don't do it", Mr Saunders said.

He said care of the roses was "an insult really".

"They have tossed blue stuff around them, laughingly called fertiliser, when they should have known you must cover fertiliser with soil.

"Otherwise the sunlight alters the chemical composition, but they have just plonked the fertiliser on top of the ground."

Likewise, the condition of the roses in the park garden "horrifies a lot of people.

"There is a lack of basic knowledge on feeding and watering them.

"I have recommended an underground watering system, which guards against fungus and diseases.

"That puts water around the roots - they don't need water on the plants themselves - and you can liquid feed if you wish."

Mr Saunders said there had once been a hedge on the perimeter of the rose garden, which not only gave people sitting in the garden privacy but acted as a windbreak for the roses.

He said he would welcome the chance to be part of the public consultation process over the future of the roses.