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Climbing roses
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Posted by Barbara_B Vic Australia (My Page) on Wed, Aug 24, 05 at 6:32
| At an old garden we recently saw climbing roses growing along a 1 metre high support. Wouldn't this be a great idea instead of letting them go beserk and reach for the sky? There'd be a lot of flowers because the canes would be horizontal. I've planted four out like it to see if it works. I don't like getting up on the ladders at pruning time. Can anyone comment on growing them like this? |
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RE: Climbing roses
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- Posted by lozza Vic. Oz. (My Page) on
Wed, Aug 24, 05 at 17:19
| Hello Barbara, Well of course the canes can be dragged down to that height. It would be quite difficult with the heavy caned climbers. For wiry, thin roses, there would be no problem at all. However the heavier canes of the large climbers need to be supported while growing up. You cannot bend them as they grow, for they are soft and fleshy and will snap. Only when "hardened", February/March, can you risk pulling them down, Ideally this would be done at Winter pruning time, but a heavy trim can be done earlier, the clearing of old canes to provide space for the latest. Imagine that you have all the climbing canes pulled down to 3'. In the next season new canes produced as laterals from those canes will grow where? Up. They will have to be supported while growing, and then pulled down. But the top of the fence is too far beneath them. Selection of cultivar will be vital to the success of this plan. Slender climbers are required ideally, such as Wichurianas, Renae, Pinkie, Raubritter, Paul Transon are suitable. You could probably get away with more slender shrubs being trained for this purpose, Graham Thomas, and similar 7-8' shrubs, much less likely to throw long climbing canes other than from the base of the plant. |
RE: Climbing roses
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| Hi Lozza, if I pull all the current climbing canes back to the fence, then prune all the shoots off this cane back to 2 buds and not let any of them develop to grow longer, wouldn't this be OK? I know I'll be in strife when I need a few fresh canes but if I sort of put a little pressure on them as they grow by tying them down a little loosely at first then more tightly as they develop, would this work? Even if they stay in an arc, and I tie the end down it would be better than climbing to prune the big roses. I have seven big climbers and we prune them each year but it can become quite dangerous up so high. |
RE: Climbing roses
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- Posted by lozza Vic. Oz. (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 25, 05 at 7:44
| Just do what you want to do. I'm just trying to suggest what will happen. Depending on cultivars you will get different results to what you want. Give it a try. |
RE: Climbing roses
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| At Carrick Hill (Adelaide) I've seen a climbing China Doll trained to a metre high swag very effectively. What you are talking about is similar to training a rose along a swag maybe? Except you want it a lot lower than a normal height swag would be. Von |
RE: Climbing roses
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| Hi Von, yes, I guess that is what I want. |
RE: Climbing roses
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If a rose is described as a pillar rose, I am assuming it has lax pliable canes suitable for training horizontally. So, apart from Wichurana roses, what other type should we be looking for for training horizontally, along say, a fence? I presume Hybrid Tea roses are too stiff for this purpose or are there exceptions to this?
I am new to this roses growing: I only have 3 climbers - my first was Blue Moon (a Hybrid Tea)and it has stiff canes and I discovered that yes they do break off when the new growth is young (I learnt the hard way!). My Mme Alfred Carriere is only young and is finally about 8 inches above our wire fence but it has pliable canes. I will wait till late Feb. to coax them horizontally. My other is Sea Foam which has thin pliable canes but this one likes to throw out slim canes in all directions some of which sit very low on the ground. But the cuttings strike incredibly easily and it has the prettiest 2" white double rosettes in clusters. I have just planted two young'ns on either side of an old fallen tree stump with a native Pandorea jasminoides (pink trumpet shaped flower with darker pink centre). Can't wait to see how they develop.
Janine |
RE: Climbing roses
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I am growing Zephrine Drouin and Kathleen Harrop along my front porch trellis that is only about a 1m high and about 5 meters long - it works quite well - they are very similar roses as most of you know (one being a sport of the other), with flexible canes ideal for threading through the low trellis horizontally - occasionally I have to give some a trim if they are reaching sky high - but it doesn't affect their flowering - the look lovely together with the dark and pale pink intermingling.
cheers - Rach |
Climbing roses/trellis
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Hi Rach - that sounds lovely - what sort of trellis have you got? A criss-cross timber type or something more solid and is it painted. My husband doesn't want me to put a pillar rose around our verandah oregon beams because he says how is he going to re-stain the timber in a year/each time it needs it? I said, well, I'll put a thornless rose and attach it so it can be unravelled ! (Am I being too optimistic!!!???)
Janine |
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