This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
pruning a climbing rose
Hellebore bird
Posts: 36
in Talkback
Hi all
i have a particularly vigerous climbing rose that constantly throws up stiff fast growing shoots i am wondering if it could be a rambler even tho i bought as a climber. it flowers aound may june and is a lovely double yellow and only really flowers then may be a few later on but not many. i have to constantly prune it as it constantly throws stiff upright shoots i just dont know what to do cut its shoots hard back to the main stem or leave a few buds it just puts out one big shoot no matter how i prune it 
0
Posts
Do you know its name? Some rose varieties are just more vigorous than others. Ramblers tend to be more pliable than climbers.
Either way, the best advice I can give is to check out the name and confirm it's type and then follow the instructions on the RHS website -
Climbers - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=189
Ramblers - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=169
Thanks obelixx
i think it was golden showers though not 100% sure as i have had it awhile now just losing patience with all the constant pruning to stop its ever upward growth.
Golden Showers can be expected to get up to 4 metres high - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/119717/Rosa-Golden-Showers-(Cl)/Details
Try training new stems as horizontally as possible. This will reduce height but also increase flowering vigour. Cut out the older flowered stems a third at a time so you get a 3 year rotation of constantly renewed stems and flowering vigour.