This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Climbing rose only has foliage at top
chats42
Posts: 15
As you can see in my picture this beautiful pink rose has lovely blooms, but only has foliage on the top half. How could I stimulate growth on the bare lower half?
It is very vigorous, it has already flowered this June and I cut the top back to the roof you can see and it has already grown that much again. Thanks
It is very vigorous, it has already flowered this June and I cut the top back to the roof you can see and it has already grown that much again. Thanks
0
Posts
You could leave it until the leaves fall off , or fix the wires then get somoene to carefully help you hold things into place as you tie them in.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1o-o_FHPoEU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h5rLjzkg7Zg
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Cut it back hard and then train the new stems in a zig zagging way up the panel. You could screw vine eyes into the fence posts and erect wires at regular intervals going up. Then you tie the rose stems to that trying to keep them as close to horizontal as possible. Because if you can keep them between horizontal and 45 degrees then they will more readily throw out side shoots which will bear more flowers. Also, by training them like that starting low down, you will get foliage and flowers at a lower level.
Or Hexagons idea about pegging could work well too. Would make it look a bit like a weeping form tree, which would be nice. It looks quite like a standard the way it has grown.
I just wonder why they bother asking, as you've demonstrated, there's plenty of room there to train it. Pound to a penny it won't be done though
...climbing hybrid teas typically have tall lanky growth with straight up laterals.. as clearly shown there...
... a rose like this is best shown and grown as they do at Wollerton Old Hall on the house wall ...
...here's their Instagram shot of it...
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj4avSYgqdZ/
...pegging roses refers to those grown freestanding in the ground, not on walls... this rose could be used that way if it wasn't on a wall...
...but it would be ridiculous to attempt to peg that rose.. pegging involves inserting a long spike into the soil and bending the lower shoot down and tying it with string to the spike so the shoot is bending down or horizontal to the soil, continuing with the other shoots tying one to the other as they are bent down with the object of producing a fan shape, like a Peacock showing off... this is done with Shrub roses...
...one of the tricks with pegging is to hide what you've actually done...the emerging new foliage will cover the string... although I sometimes use long canes, wooden posts or metal spikes...even leaning against an obelisk is a form of pegging.. but I try to make them blend in.. I like the cheap green metal stakes you can get now... I find they almost disappear amongst the roses..
...the rose in the picture should have all its laterals - the 2 or 3 foot long shoots coming off and upwards to the main framework - cut back to a couple of buds, or at least cut back by half, before Spring... and the main framework fan shaped along wires, like a fan shaped apple tree... not difficult to do but probably a ladder would be needed, and some patience... alternatively, cut the whole lot down and start afresh... or for the very bold, using the notching method to induce shoots from lower down...
..or just leave it... it depends how industrious or fussy the gardener wants to be ...we do as little or as much as we please, don't you think?..