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My creme de la creme climbing rose has gone very leggy.

MoviebabeMoviebabe Posts: 26
in Problem solving
It has been fine but this summer it just grew high, had some buds and leaves very healthily near the top but seems to have lost any growth further down. Can I prune it back hard to the base and mulch lots for winter to reinspire it? Or will I kill the lovely thing?

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited October 2020
    It's planted pretty close to the fence, so it will be drier there. I would recommend adding loads of manure to the base nowand keep it really well watered next summer.

    It's a climber, so it's supposed to be tall. I suggest putting in wires or trellis for support. It can grow to 15 ft +
  • MoviebabeMoviebabe Posts: 26
    Tk u Fire. Will take all that on board.
  • PianoplayerPianoplayer Posts: 624
    Hi. The thing about climbing roses is not to prune them hard. They need to be trained - so the long canes need to be bent and tied in as near horizontal as possible - they will then produce flowering shoots along their length. If they grow vertically, then the flowers will be just near the top. So, as @Fire suggests, put in some horizontal wires and tie the canes across them. The challenge is bending the canes without snapping them! Best to do this as they grow and are still young, rather than woody. Lots of advice here:
    https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/blogs/news/climbers-on-walls

    Good luck with it.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited October 2020
    1. Remove the weeds from around the base your rose
    and keep it weeded. 

    2. Mulch with well rotted manure. (Don’t let it touch the stems.) 

    3. Put in sturdy horizontal wires or a trellis to train your climbing rose against.

    4.  Prune out the dead wood. 

    5. Train the main stems  gently towards the horizontal and tie them in to the wires. 

    6. Shorten the left hand cane so it finishes at the end of the fence. 

    7. Reduce all the side growth from the two main canes back to three buds. 

    8. In early March feed with rose fertiliser according to directions on the pack. Water well, and continue to give it a bucket full of water twice a week through the summer. 

    9. Enjoy 🌹 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Hopefully, with manure and food and loads of water, it will throw up some new strong, green shoots that you can then train sideways. DA says you can never over-water a rose.
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