Climbing Roses

[jimtx]

All rose bushes are pruned.

Neighbor has a climber ... hybrid ... that has been allowed to go wild ... she would like it trained on the garage wall. This climber looks like a very large bush that has decided to reach for the sky ... with the front canes much larger than those closest to the wall. In fact .... none of the canes are growing toward the wall but all angle away from the garage wall.

Question ..... what do I do to turn this thing into a "well behaved" climber? It will take a strong cord ... clamp ..etc. to hold one of these canes ... they are not small.

Thanks,

Jim

[Ann B.]

Jim,

First of all, if the rose is growing away from the garage wall in an effort to get more sun, this will continue to be a problem.

If not, then all you have to do is to prune it back to about 2-3 foot above the ground, then watch for the new buds to form. Trim off the ones that are going in the direction away from the wall. Eventually, you should get some facing the wall. Just let those continue to grow. If not, you may have to cut a few more inches off.

My front bed in front of my garage faces South and gets a lot of sun. The problem that I had is the bed is only 2.5 feet wide and is between my garage wall and the front sidewalk, not much room for a rose. Yet, 20 years ago, I planted a Mr. Lincoln, not a climber, but you would think that it is because it is over 8 foot tall. I have pruned it over the years so that all of the branches face the garage wall. Once I got it to grow that way, I stopped pruning it and just let it get tall.

However, it will get pruned back this year at about 4-5 feet so that the new rose buds don't hit the eave of the house like it started to do last fall. Again, I will have to worry about those branches that reach toward the sidewalk. I don't want anyone to be grabbed by its huge thorns.

It will take awhile, but it isn't as much work as one would think. Just keep an eye on it, and prune away until you get the new branches growing at the angle that you want them to grow.

Sounds cruel, but believe me, the rose bush will love you for it.