Madame Alfred Carriere in a container...?
Hi,
I have a Madame Alfred Carriere that I have to move to a more appropriate location. It's currently in the garden but completely outgrowing it's obelisk in just it's 2nd year and there's nowhere else to train it along where it is now.
I'd love to put it at the front of the house where it can scramble all over the front wall 'til it's hearts content but one problem - NO SOIL! Does anyone know if I can put her in a pot and if so, what size? I've heard people say it's fine but the pot should be big - but how big are we talking. Pot sizes advised for shrub roses are about 35-45cm wide and deep. Will that also be okay for MAC or will I need a much bigger pot because it's such a big climber?
Any tips, ideas or suggestions welcome! And if anyone is growing a MAC or a similar large climber in a container I would love to see a picture and hear how it's doing...
Jade
Last edited: 17 October 2016 11:50:51
Posts
Crap... really?
Not even a biggish one, like 50 x 57cm?
A container would only be good for a couple of seasons for a rose like that and you would be forever cutting it back which wouldn't suit the rose at all. Eventually the foliage would turn yellow through lack of nutrients..
I would attempt to drill out a hole in whatever hardscaping you have to plant it directly. Even a smallish hole less than a foot square would probably suffice, as long as you can get the roots in. Trimming them short would help.
Damn it, that's really disappointing. I'm not sure digging down below the slabs is worthwhile... we've only just had them re-done so my husband would probably faint if I suggested it. Plus I'm not sure I could make a decent enough hole or whether there is even decent soil under there.
I don't know what to do with it because it's out-grown the space it's in now. I'm wondering whether to just do it anyway and enjoy it properly growing over the house for just a few short years and then scrap it, rather than keep cutting it down to fit the 1.8m obelisk it's on now and never really seeing the benefit of it getting big...
Thanks for the suggestions guys... It seems I have some tough decisions to make. On the bright side, if I really want a climber at the front of the house I also have a Penny Lane I could move instead, much smaller than the MAC
Jadey i was in exactly your position with a MAC and also we had hardscaping out the front (that my husband also laid not that many yrs ago !) but he removed about just over a foot square and removed the concrete under and there was soil, i dug out (i say i, i mean he) down as far as we could reach and mixed it in with lots of manure and compost and put it all back in with the rose and it is growing beautifully over the front of the house, it has only been in there a few months and it's already about 10ft in all directions, it's worth digging it out jadey
Hmmm. Interesting! Our slabs are about 1 foot by 1 foot so if I could get away with just removing one then maybe it wouldn't be too bad... Did you have any problems with the slabs or concrete breaking up or cracking around where you'd dug out though? Also, have you got any pics of your MAC? I'd love to see
well, our front bit is all done in bricks, my husband used a cutter to grind out the square (but he is a builder so he has those kind of tools) i haven't got any photos of it atm but tomorrow i could take some, only my front camera works so they might be a bit squiffy angles but i'll give it a go tomo
Oh don't go to any trouble, I was being nosey! Hehe
no that's ok, i was just warning you about the dodgy pics in advance haha
Haha, okay, as long as it's no bother. I love nosying at other peoples roses!
Also, me and the hubby reviewed the situation again last night and although we (he!) don't want to pull up slabs at the front, we do already have a bit where there are no slabs along the side path. It just has a bit of gravel over it which we could dig a patch out and plant her in there. The problem though, is that it's a North facing wall which is in very close proximity to next door so doesn't get ANY direct sunlight (outside of maybe the height of July). The intention would be to train her from there to crawl forward towards the front of the house (west facing wall) and then cover that wall. She would have to travel about 2.5m/8 feet before reaching the sunny wall. Does anyone know whether that would be possible or would she die from lack of sun before even reaching the front?
Here's where I mean...
Last edited: 18 October 2016 09:53:24