I've been trying to use the soapy spray technique to control aphids. I have
several shrub roses which would be ok to spray this way, about once a week
even, but it is the rugosa hedge that defeated me. I haven't been able to
finish spraying it. I have disabilities and medical problems that make the
physical demands of spraying this way impossible to meet. Even my firend who
does a lot of my gardening work for me and is more able-bodied than me can't
do it. Initially I tried spraying some of these (currently around 2ft high)
bushes from a short distance. but when examined close up I found most aphids
had not been touched as they were relatively secure in narrow spaces that I
hadn't got the spray into. I found that to get at the aphids I have to grab
each newish green shoot or flower bud and spray down into the gaps around it
between shoot and leaves etc in order to actually get the water onto the
aphids at all. Most of them seem to be hiding away in this manner. Then I
have to turn the shoot or leaf over and spray on the underside. After a few
bushes I was unable to continue- it was (for me) back-breaking and having
been unable to finish it over two days and now needing a few days of rest to
recouperate, this is clearly not something I can do every two weeks. It is
debatable if I can do this at all, ever! If it was just half a dozen shrub
roses, ok, but this hedge is about forty bushes and in a difficult to access
place, only really accessible from one side. Next year when they are higher
and broader I won't be able to reach individual shoots and buds at all.

So I need to weigh up the options. My first thought is- I seem to be the kind
of gardener that systemic pesticides were meant for! One or two sprayings,
not necessarily from really close up, and the pesticide is then in the sap!
But it seems a pity to abandon organic principles.

I wonder if less energetic organic methods could work well enough. I could
try putting up the lacewing boxes, ladybird boxes if there are such things,
and growing nettles. And I could also try to get some perspective. These are
rosa rugosa alba- that's a wild species- it must be capable of withstanding
aphids.

Any explanations of how the organic thing can be made to work in such a
situation would be very helpful. It MUST be possible without me exhausting
myself in the process. Any suggestions one way or the other would be helpful.

PS three bits of possibly relevant information- [1] This hedge of rugosas was
only planted last year and I did do some pesticide spaying last summer- not
much, but some (I used up one small bug spray -can't remember what it was
now). Could I have ruined the local eco-system in my front garden for the
next 12 years by doing that? [2] This hedge is next to the pavement and there
are cars/pedestrians passing every few minutes at the very least- it's not a
really tranquil environment so birds that might eat aphids (if that happens)
could be less likely to feed there, right next to the road. [3] When it gets
windy, it gets VERY windy here.

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