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Hard pruning a climbing rose now. Would it really be a ' bad ' thing?

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
edited September 2022 in Plants
I want to eventually prune back my Arthur Bell climber as the copious blooms are too high up. I'm not exaggerating but it's throwing up stems at the rate of a foot a week. They're about 12 ft high at the moment. I'm chopping them off but it seems to me that it's wasting energy. I understand that it should be done in dormancy.
Would it be a really bad thing to cut the main stems down to about 2 or 3 ft now?
In London. Keen but lazy.

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    You can cut laterals back whenever you want...
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I want to cut it right down and train it properly along the fence. Up till now, I've been hauling down  some of the long stems and tying them down and pruning off the rest but they're still too high.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    edited September 2022
    My fence blew down and had to be mended. There was climbing rose the previous owner had made a half hearted job of training along said fence.

    To get the fence mended I chopped the whole rose back to a stubby little stem (in summer). Next year the damned thing (I didn't like it much - can you tell?) grew stronger, bigger, healthier than ever. 

    If you're particularly attached to the rose I'd go by the book. If not - get it done!


    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I like it and would hate to lose it by my own hand.
     I once had a rampant rector that I hated. I pruned it to death.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    Arthur Bell is vigorous as anything. I can't imagine you could do any harm!
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    You're probably right @WhereAreMySecateurs
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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