Pruning Young Climbing Roses

Robert West · October 2021

Two years ago I bought a couple of heavily reduced climbing roses (Bridge of Sighs) at this time of year. I planted them out the following spring growing them over an arch, one each side.

They didn't do a huge amount year one but this year they flowered well and have grown a fair bit. One is now about seven foot tall, and has gone over the top of the arch. The other one is a bit smaller at about five feet tall. Both have just a couple of thicker stems and then a fair few really skinny side shoots coming off those.

My question is, how hard should I prune them and when? I want them to produce a few more good sized stems so they are a little wider, and I'm hoping that cutting them back will cause this. I'm more used to clematis!

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

Uff · October 2021

I bought some Gertrude Jekyll climbing roses last year and I shall be following their advice on how to train them. I want mine to grow either side of the front door but they have advice below on training them over an arch.
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/blogs/news/training-and-tying-in

Nollie · October 2021

You don’t want to be pruning the long climbing canes at all - the thicker 5 and 7ft stems that come from the base - as these form the permanent framework of the climbing rose from which the flowering side shoots grow. You can tidy up the side shoots (called ‘laterals’) now, by pruning them back to about 4-6”.

It takes a few years for the main climbing canes to establish and for the rose to put out new ones from the base (called basal growth). To encourage basal growth that will grow into new climbing canes, you would have ideally planted the graft (the knobbly bit that joins your Bridge of Sighs to a different, hardy root stock) a few inches below ground level, plus feed and water well during the growing season.

When you have enough new canes to tie onto and over the arch and it’s getting a bit congested, then you can prune out one or two of the thicker, older canes to provide more room for the newer, lustier canes.

Is any of that making sense? There are probably a few videos on youtube on how to prune roses on an arch that can explain it better!

Robert West · October 2021

Thank you so much for the advice. I will largely leave them alone for now then. I did actually raise the soil level this time last year as the graft was slightly proud of the ground. As I said in my post they're growing well, so I just need to learn to be patient! My biggest gardening weakness!

Zoe P2 · October 2021

Nollie said:

.

Is any of that making sense? There are probably a few videos on youtube on how to prune roses on an arch that can explain it better!

It does indeed! We too have a young climber that weren't very sure what to do with!
Thank you Nollie.

Nollie · October 2021

Glad to be of help, but yes, patience is a hard-won attribute Robert, especially with climbing roses. I’m still working on it! I have four new climbing roses this year, one has produced four huge climbing canes already, the other three have only produced one each, but I’m willing those on..

Full disclosure, all of mine are ‘espaliered’ against fences or grown around obelisks, I’m eagerly awaiting my first rose arch. Is yours on an arch too @Zoe P2 ? The principle is the same tho, prune back the laterals and leave the main climbing canes. It’s a bit easier to bend the canes to slow the sap and induce more flowering laterals against a wall, but on an arch or in a narrow space there is a technique of snaking the climbing canes in S-shaped bends over the vertical face/sides, which gives you more blooms lower down, but you do need young, flexible canes for that.

Pruning Young Climbing Roses

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