Climbing or rambling roses can transform any wall or fence into a tapestry of blooms, but they need to be trained. If left unattended they can become thorny, overgrown and unruly.
Choose a support structure that is large enough to accommodate long-term growth, and install it before planting the roses. Regular pruning and deadheading keep the plant looking good, and encourage flower production.
Horizontal Training
Climbing roses are incredibly versatile and can be trained to cover fences, spiral around pillars or fill in garden obelisks. But growing a stunning, stare-worthy climbing rose that’s crammed with blooms takes foresight, decision making and training.
Once your climbing or rambling rose is in full bloom each spring, it’s time to begin directing the growth of its stems. This process, called tying in, is important for ensuring that your rose grows as planned and avoids becoming overgrown with canes that aren’t producing flowers.
Begin by tying the major structural canes to the support structure using strong garden twine or Flexi-Tie. This ensures that the stems will grow in the direction you want them to go while keeping the plant secure and preventing it from breaking or falling over. You can also purchase a roll of plastic ties specifically designed for use on climbing roses that are more flexible and offer less damage to the stems when cut.
You can also consider fastening the stems to a trellis, which provides a more visually appealing option and may be easier to maintain than tying them directly to a wall or house. Once the canes are secured, you can then start reducing their length each year in winter to prevent them from becoming too overgrown. Each year, also remove any crossing or weak canes and any that emerge from the ground or graft union (for grafted roses). Removing excess canes helps the remaining canes to produce more flowers.
Vertical Training
The first thing to understand is that climbing roses don’t climb in the same way that vines like ivy or clematis do. Instead, climbing roses have long structural canes which need to be tied to or woven into some sort of support.
Climbing roses also tend to grow into shrubby shapes, with arching canes. Left on their own, these canes would make large, unwieldy garden plants, so it’s important to tie them to a structure and guide them upward.
A well-trained climbing or rambling rose is one of the most spectacular features of any garden. They can transform a run-down wall, ugly fence or even a house front into a breathtaking horticultural spectacle bursting with color and fragrance.
To get the most out of a climbing rose, train it each year in the spring before it leafs out. This encourages lateral offshoots and blooms along the entire length of the cane. Use soft ties to avoid damaging the plant. Also, remove old blooms regularly as the season progresses, so that the rose is constantly pushing new canes up into a full, open form.
Pegging
Climbing roses can be trained to spiral around pillars, cover trellises, crawl along walls or fill in obelisks. But no matter what form they take, most climbing roses need a strong support system to prevent sagging and to ensure a full display of blooms. A trellis provides a strong foundation for a climbing rose and allows for airflow between the plant and solid structure, which helps reduce disease risk.
For the best results, a trellis should be set up before the planting of your climbing rose. This allows the plant to get used to the structure and to orient its growth toward it. Once the trellis is in place, you can begin pegging the climbing rose’s long stems.
When a long stem of a climbing rose is bent, it releases growth hormones throughout its length forcing the stem to produce more flowers than it normally would. This technique promotes flowering at the ends of the canes, which is important for creating an attractive display.
When pegging a rose, use protective gloves to avoid being pricked by the thorns and choose pliable, healthy canes that will bend easily. You can either tie the canes to the trellis or peg them into the ground using pegging hooks or sod staples. Whatever method you select, remember that pegging will help distribute the weight of the canes evenly along the length of the stem and reduce the possibility of breakage.
Pruning
A climbing rose or rambling variety can become a beautiful garden feature when it is well cared for. These plants grow long structural canes that must be trained and secured to a trellis or fence for support. They also require regular pruning to promote healthy growth and encourage a desirable flowering formation. When pruning climbing roses, it is important to remove dead or diseased canes and crossing branches. Also, it is important to prune so that the lateral canes are spaced evenly along the support structure.
In general, it is best to prune climbing roses in late winter or early spring. This allows you to see the plant’s overall structure and minimizes stress on the rose. If you are growing a repeat blooming rose, pruning immediately after it flowers in June can be sufficient (sometimes simply deadheading the flowers is enough).
The final step in climbing rose training is to loosely attach each major cane to the support structure using plastic ties. It is important to choose ties that are soft and not ridged, as these may cut into the lateral canes of the plant as they grow. It is also important to regularly check the ties and to re-tie any canes that have grown more than 15 inches beyond the last tie. This will keep the canes secure and help to prevent them from tearing or falling off of the support.
