How To Grow Climbing Roses
Last updated by Annie on: Tuesday, Mar 2nd 2010
Hi, . A true rose garden wouldn’t be complete without growing climbing roses of some sort. Climbing roses are also known as ramblers, trailing roses, pillars and ever blooming roses, depending on how they grow. They are not considered to be actual true vines as you might imagine because climbing roses don’t grow a support structure of their own to hold onto surfaces so they always need a bit of assistance. However, they are certainly a perfect ornament for fences, archways, sheds or other structures around the garden.
As climbing roses need assistance to hold onto structures, unlike vines, you will need to loosely attach the rose to whatever you are training it against, e.g. using garden wire, coarse string, or simply wind it through the structure. Good structures for growing climbing roses are fences, pillars, a trellis, arbors, sheds, summerhouses, or even just walls, any large solid structure really.
If an abundance of blooms is what you’re after, you will often find that climbing roses trained to grow laterally (rather then vertically) should reward you with more blooms. Vertical climbing roses tend to produce short spurs on their main stem which will produce blooms.
Apart from the obvious difference in the way they grow, you will find that growing climbing roses is not that dissimilar to growing other varieties of roses. Your climbing roses will like about 6-7 hours of direct sunlight a day and even climbing roses that favor partial shade will still need some 4-5 hours of direct sunlight each day.
You will also need to take into consideration the height or length the climbing rose will grow to, depending on whether you are growing it vertically or laterally. Some species can grow up to about 30 feet in height, whereas others might only reach 7 feet in height. The height the plant grows to can also be effected by the local climate in your area, e.g. the sunnier and warmer, the more it will thrive. Consider therefore if the structure you are planning to grow the climbing roses against can support this.
Also think about what variety of climbing rose will best suit your garden. Some varieties are ever bloomers which will flower all through the growing season, whereas others are Spring bloomers which will only flower in the Springtime, so consider what else you already have in your garden and when (if) it flowers.
A big difference between caring for climbing roses and other types of rose plant is that climbing roses need very little pruning. For the first 2 years there is no need to prune them. If climbing roses are pruned every year like other rose plants, the opposite happens to them and they produce fewer blooms. You should only need to prune climbing roses every 3-4 years and this would only be to remove the small canes and older, less vigorous canes at the bottom of the plant. This then encourages new young canes to grow and they become long and flexible thus allowing you to train them onto or through your chosen structure.
Growing climbing roses requires a little patience – remember they might take a little time to get established, but once they do, their beauty in color and fragrance will have been worth the wait.
Take care for now
Annie
