Thanks again everybody. Neither the rose nor the pot have any sentimental value, they were both here before we moved in. I can think of many uses for the pot though, and not totally against buying a new rose. Come winter time we’ll do our best to get it out undamaged, otherwise order something else from David Austin.
Would you put the obelisk over the base of the rose, or next to it? Intuitively I’d put it over, but could be wrong on this.
That’s another question you will get many different opinions on, BrixtonGardener, even from professional rose breeders. I would say it depends on the rose. Some grow a clematis up the middle and a rose outside to wind around or lean against the obelisk, others a single rose on the outside, others on the inside, some two roses on the same obelisk. A rose with bendy stems is easier to train either way. I have found the a climbing rose with upright, stiff canes better grown in the middle, but someone will contradict me very soon
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Me! I have a large hybrid tea in the middle of an metal obelisk and have found it impossible to prune it down to the recommended 6-12" in the winter. The base is now very old and very thick and it is impossible to get the loppers/pruning saw into the right position. It's also difficult to get your hand inside to pick up the dead leaves.
It does look better in the middle, to my eyes, rather than to one side, but there is a downside as above.
@Lizzie27 ah yes, your Royal William 😆 Mine is not an HT, it’s a climbing floribunda, so just needs a quick trim from the outside occasionally and shouldn't be cut down like yours - back to ‘it depends on the rose’... In saying that, I did cut mine down last year as I needed to replace the rotting wooden obelisk with a sturdier metal one, so it will take a season or two to get back to it’s usual 2m+ height.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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Would you put the obelisk over the base of the rose, or next to it? Intuitively I’d put it over, but could be wrong on this.
Me! I have a large hybrid tea in the middle of an metal obelisk and have found it impossible to prune it down to the recommended 6-12" in the winter. The base is now very old and very thick and it is impossible to get the loppers/pruning saw into the right position. It's also difficult to get your hand inside to pick up the dead leaves.
It does look better in the middle, to my eyes, rather than to one side, but there is a downside as above.
Looking at it now, the stems are pretty flexible, so may be able to get away with having it in the middle. Good point about the leaves though.