Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
sowandgrow

What to do with climbing rose

sowandgrow
9 years ago

After alfalfa tea and a little care my climbing rose has taken off and there are canes going every which way, buy I am afraid I don't know what to do with the canes..I have a trellis behind it but it isn't very wide. Also I read on a post that there is no advantage to burying a rose if it is own root, does everyone agree on that. I am in zone 3. I planted mine down 6 inches.That would save me a lot of work in the future so hope that is so. Also I posted on the propagation forum, but that doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic, so if you would take a look I had a couple questions concerning my misting setup. I have learned so much from reading all the posts and thank you for all the beautiful pictures.

Comments (12)

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Do you know what the name of your rose is? Not all climbers have the same kind of growth habit so that info might help.

    In general if you can spread the canes more sideways you will get more bloom on it. So, yes, a wider trellis would be better. Those long canes will put out what are called laterals and each of those will give you bloom instead of just the top of the canes. That lovely railing on the porch is tempting but I would not advise you to tie it to that. Roses can be extremely heavy and it could do damage to the rail. It you can get some kind of lattice thaat would go along in front of the porch and then tie the rose to that I think it would be beautiful.

    In zone 3 the graft should definitely be buried a good 6 inches below the soil level. You will still probably lose cane over the winter but depending on which rose it is the plant itself will survive. There are some methods you can use to try and protect the canes. Wrapping in burlap and such can help prevent the canes from drying out over winter and dying but in your zone that may not work all that well.

    I'll go over to Prop. and see about your other questions.

  • Jasminerose, California, USDA 9b/Sunset 18
    9 years ago

    Paul Zimmerman's video helped me to understand that it is best to have the canes on a climbing rose, grow horizontally or at a 45 degree angle. That way, you can get more laterals to break, or more bloom as Seil suggested. Good luck! I bet it will be beautiful.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Zimmerman-Training A Rose

  • subk3
    9 years ago

    Here's what the same rose looks like a few months later during the flush:

  • iris_gal
    9 years ago

    Gorgeous display SubK3. A friend's New Dawn had no lower bloom. The canes were tied horizontally along the top of the 6 foot fence and a couple two feet down, but it never has as pretty a display as yours. All the bloom is at the top. She also has a purple clematis (Etiole Violette) with it. Alas, New Dawn fades quickly to almost white in our sun.

    SowandGrow - the name would be very helpful. Mature cane size-weight differs. The red looks wonderful against the white. Good choice! 4x4s could be put in, painted white, if weight becomes an issue. My climbing 'Handel' is a floribunda and a 10 ft. cane arches on its own beginning at about 5 feet. No weight problem. 'Royal Sunset' is another story. Without support those thick canes begin bending very quickly. For your rose I would lasso the 45 degree cane over on the left to the natural wood horizontal board. And the sprout off the main flowering cane I'd loosley tether to the top rail. Remember you can always prune unweildy canes that are too tall. That will encouage lateral growth. A friend successfully prunes her 'Handel' as a bush! Sorry I know nothing about misters for roses. Is the black oblong box a mister?

  • sharon2079
    9 years ago

    Oh, So beautiful!!!!

    I do have a question on how you decided to do this.... I thought roses likes air circulation and doesn't like to be next to anything.... See how much I know. Little to nothing. That is why I like seeing the garden shots; It gives me ideas.

    Do you have to prune the Clematis and the Rose often. Do you have to worry that one will dominate the other and try to kill it, due to aggressiveness.

    Thanks for any feed back. And thank you for posting such a pretty picture.

  • sowandgrow
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you so much for all the advice. I always wondered how people achieved that full look. I didn't understand what laterals were and that they produced blooms so you have blooms along the canes. I had heard about them blooming more if they were at a forty five degree angle, but didn't know about weaving them back and forth. Thanks for the video link, and for your before and after picture subk3, a picture makes it so much clearer to me. By the way that is one drop dead climbing rose and clematis combination you have, the soft pink and purple combination is breathtaking. What a wonderfull welcome home!

    Yes, I love the idea of using lattice! One question, should I stain it the french vanilla stain, or would you leave it to age to a natural gray? Or would you just be confident it wouldn't matter, because it would be covered with roses :-). I am not sure that in my zone how much to expect..nowhere near as much as subk's I am sure. I also like the idea of tying the sprout of the main cane to the top rail. This is my dining room, and it will be nice to look out and see them. I can hardly wait until next spring to try this. Meanwhile I will have to check on how to prune them.

    I am not sure what the name is. I am from a very small town, and this was from a very small nursery. This is the only red they had, so I didn't pay any attention to the name. Looking on the Internet there doesn't seem to be many for this zone, so my guess is Henry Kelsey.

    Subk3, I guess I just call the whole unit in general a misting unit, the black box is a pump relay, it kicks the pump off and on so it doesn't run continually.

    Thanks Seil for the idea. Yes I know the graft has to be buried in my zone, my question is with an ownroot rose would there also be a benefit to planting them six inches deeper than all you lucky warm climate growers? Interesting note...when I bought my hybred teas and grafted roses,( this was in a bigger town with a large selection) but same zone I asked about burying the grafts and she recommended cutting out the bottom of a nursery container and filling it with peat moss. She said it provided better insulation than dirt. I guess that would still make me a little nervous to try.

    Marge

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Marge, I'm not sure I'd try to tie it to the porch rail. As I said, roses can be very heavy and can be destructive. It could ruin your railing. If you want to stain a lattice to match that's fine but be fore warned, it won't stay stained and trying to re-stain it with a big climber already in place will be impossible. I actually prefer something metal like the one subk3 has. Although eventually even the metal ones fail and you have a major job replacing them.

    I do still plant own root roses deep. I figure it couldn't hurt! I have used cut off nursery pots to hold mulch in place over the winter too. I've never tried using peat for that though. I use my abundant free supply of mulched up leaves. From the look of the blooms I think Henry Kelsy is a good bet.

  • toolbelt68
    9 years ago

    I agree with seil, keep it away from anything that has to be painted and is not strong enough to support the weight. Think of a horse hitching rail and build something like that using sturdy pressure treated wood or metal fence posts. You could string a wire between the posts or use pipes just like a chained length fence. If you use lattice make sure it is pressure treated. They make 1/4 inch thick lattice that is pressure treated. Tie the canes along the rail going both ways. At the center make that post higher so the canes can also go upward as well as horizontal. You will end up with a solid mass of blooms all across the front of your deck

    This post was edited by Toolbelt68 on Thu, Oct 9, 14 at 12:03

  • Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
    9 years ago

    Could yours be "Ramblin Red"? That's hardy to zone 3 and our small nursery carries it.

  • Embothrium
    9 years ago

    Main thing is to spread the canes out so most are more horizontal.

  • subk3
    9 years ago

    skmiller asked: "I thought roses likes air circulation and doesn't like to be next to anything.... Do you have to prune the Clematis and the Rose often. Do you have to worry that one will dominate the other and try to kill it, due to aggressiveness."

    The trellis is 10-12" away from the wall and when I prune and train it in the late winter I don't let anything grow in the gap behind it. I think that helps. I've also chosen a more disease resistant rose. I'm still figuring out the clematis (and the roses!) I do a major pruning on the rose in late winter when I train it on the trellis and the rest of the year other than whacking it back when some part of it is annoying me that late winter pruning is all I do. New Dawn is a very vigorous rose so I don't worry too much about anything challenging it.

    The clematis I haven't been very particular about. The only time I mess with it is at the late winter pruning of the roses and some of it gets taken out as well. On pruning clematis you have to figure out what "type" it is to know what to do with it--so it depends on which clematis you end up with. Then google is your friend.

    New Dawn is a vigorous, thorny mess that doesn't give me much repeat bloom. I have a love hate relationship with her. Right now the hate part is winning--and I'm close to ripping her out and trying a different climber there!