On 19 Nov 2002 18:44:07 GMT, (DaveDay34) wrote:

Snip...I'm a bit of a compost freak but haven't made any leaf mould
yet and this
year decided I would. I know that you put them in a bag for about a year. Is
there anything else I need to do? Also, will any leaves with black spot or
other fungal or viral problems, be ok in with other leaves

Snip ...
. However, black spot is usually only a
real problem with weak plants.
I actually wonder
whether you can use anything from your garden and compost it safely as you have
black spot, and the spores will be all over the place. I'll be interested to
read any other views to see what they think of this.
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David.
I couldn't agree more with the latter remark, but would like
to make an observation on the former!

Living in Plymouth where the air is exceptionally clean (except
for atomic radiation) roses have always been subject to savage
attacks of blackspot *except* where they were grown very close
to roads (for instance the 'islands' separating dual carriageways)

There they may well have grown somewhat stunted - but still
very florifulous - but I never saw 'Blind Pugh's Curse' on them.
I'd hazard a guess that it was the almost constant flow of carbon
monoxide across their leaves.

In my own gardens, and treated better than a mother in law, I have
always fought a non stop battle with the damn spot.

John
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