Roses are often considered the crown jewel of any garden, but keeping them blooming and disease-free doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag.
According to gardening experts, a number of common kitchen scraps can be repurposed into powerful, natural boosters for your roses, helping you grow bigger, brighter blooms for next to nothing. Jackson and Perkins, the gardening store, said: “Keeping a garden healthy doesn’t always mean spending a fortune at the store. Sometimes items that you have lying around the house are perfectly capable of doing the job. Throughout the years many a resourceful gardener has figured out how to keep their roses happy with various home remedies.” Hhere are the best kitchen scraps to feed your roses and make them flourish:
Banana peels
Banana peels are an excellent natural fertiliser for roses, thanks to their high potassium content. Potassium plays a crucial role in flower production and strengthens a plant’s resistance to diseases.
“Thanks to their high concentrations of macronutrients, especially potassium, banana peels are a great additive for the soil, increasing your roses’ bloom power and overall health,” the expert explained.
For best results, freeze the peels until you have a good amount, blend them with warm water into a slushy mixture, and pour it around the base of your rose plants.
Coffee grounds
Used coffee grounds are another budget-friendly rose booster. They’re rich in nitrogen, which promotes lush, green foliage and helps repel pests like slugs and snails with their strong aroma. The grounds also contribute to soil structure, improving aeration and water retention.
“Coffee grounds are great rose food because they are high in phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium,” an expert noted. However, due to their acidity, it’s important not to overdo it, mix them with compost or apply sparingly around the plant.
Eggshells
Eggshells, once cleaned and crushed, provide a steady dose of calcium that’s vital for root development and overall plant strength. They can also act as a physical barrier against slugs when sprinkled around the base of your rose bushes.
“For a larger garden, this could take a lot of eggshells and time. A more practical use is to grind the egg shells as fine as possible and add them to your compost,” the expert advised. “This adds plenty of calcium to keep your roses, or other plants, healthy.”
Milk
While not a nutrient-rich food, milk serves a unique role in rose care. Its antifungal properties make it an effective tool for combating common rose diseases like powdery mildew and black spot, without resorting to harsh chemicals.
“Yes, believe it or not, milk is actually pretty good at keeping powdery mildew and even black spots at bay,” said horticulture professor Jeff Gillman. He recommends spraying a mixture of two parts water to one part milk directly onto the leaves once a week.
With these easy and inexpensive methods, gardeners can reduce waste and give their roses a natural, eco-friendly boost. Whether you’re feeding your plants banana slush or protecting them with milk spray, these simple kitchen scraps could be the secret to your most beautiful rose garden yet.