Rose Gall?

9 years ago

My neighbor has a rose bush which shares a fence of mine, and as a result it spills over into my yard. To my knowledge the rose is fairly old, it's been there as long as he has - so at least 15 years. It's huge with tiny white roses.

I do my part in taking care of my end, pruning deadness and buying ladybugs ect. This year tho I noticed all these little nubs all over several of the branches that were not there the year before. I fear it may be crown gall, even tho the lower, thicker, older branches and base do not have any nubs, excess growth or deformities. I have not checked the roots because as I mentioned it's huge and I would need my neighbors permission.

I am not sure what I can do (besides cry because it's the prettiest thing in the garden and never has had any problems in the 6 years we've been here). Its not my plant, and I doubt he will take any extreme action. Any suggestions I would greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Comments (3)

anntn6b
9 years ago
They are galls and they are probably (from their being widespread on two stems) systemic through the plant.

OTOH, the rose is still blooming and from my experience with The Fairy in three states, there are roses that can live with galls. I just wouldn't replant a rose where this one has been planted.

The rose might be Alba Meidiland (if it reblooms dependably and has no scent that I can detect.)
michaelg
9 years ago
I have not seen crown gall go systemic, but Ann may be right. Usually aerial galls are found at old pruning sites where the bacteria entered through wounds, but these are all along the stem. They are probably shedding bacteria onto the soil beneath.

The rose might carry on for a long time. I guess I would wait until the flush is over and prune out all the infected stems on my side, sterilizing the pruners after every cut with a bactericide. Maybe do this every year. There is a product called Galltroll, but I am not familiar with it.
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Annececilia, My mossy rose galls look nothing like the "Lorax tree" type galls I saw when I looked up "robin's pincushions". I will attempt to post a pic. of mine later. Ann is right, "If you don't do anything, the problem will get worse." I have to admit that I saw a couple last year, didn't know what they were, and being busy, I ignored them. This year they are completely covering one of my rugosas. I believe they ARE harmful to the host plant. Here is a quote from the University of Minn. Extension: "The development of these galls is stimulated in the spring by newly hatched larvae. The galls encase the larvae until adult wasps emerge the following spring. The galls are unsightly and alter the plantÃ¯Â¿Â½s shape. They also stress the host plant, behaving like nutrient sinks, drawing nutrients away from the rest of the plant. Large numbers of galls on a plant can kill the plant." I will try to show you a picture of mine later. They may be interesting, but dang they are UUUUGLY IMO.
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Right now, you might want to plant massed species Marigolds in that spot, They're supposed to suppress the nematode populations that seem to be related to the ingress of A. tumefaciens into woody plants. Calendula is another nematode supressant. Jeri, I'm not sure about Carolina Lady. I've also read that it's very close to The Fairy, but I just don't see it being that close. LC seems to bloom a lot earlier and longer. I've got two huge ones (LC) on the fence line and so far haven't seen any gall problems with either. I think that there may be a systemic problem with a lot of The Fairys but the massed ones I had in New Orleans could live and bloom with it; now they've been replaced with a palm tree and azaleas. Once upon a time, rootstocks were chosen for their resistance to crown gall.
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sherry14226
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks to both of you for your replies, I am a novice gardener at best and not very knowledgeable. It's disheartening to hear but what I expected.

The rose has not bloomed yet (that picture is from a few years ago), which is typical based on my experience with it. It does have many buds tho that will probably burst within the next few weeks. So I should wait until its done blooming to prune?

I bought a brand new pair of shears. I will disinfect both the old and the new from now on, but the old will only be used on this bush just to be extra safe.

I'll let my neighbor know as well. I plan to prune back his growth, I know he won't mind. While I doubt he would ever remove the rose unless it were on its last legs, he has a significant bonsai collection and several other roses which I would hate to see suffer if he did not know to take precautions.

I did see something about the Galltroll, but I couldn't find much information about it, and whether I could even purchase it or that it would be helpful for an already infected rose - but I am going to try to look into it further.

Thanks again for all your help.

Rose Gall?

Comments (3)

anntn6b

michaelg

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Rose Gall?

Comments (3)

anntn6b

michaelg

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sherry14226
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