Single stemmed climbing rose
NataliaofClifton
Posts: 12
Hi there,
I inherited this gorgeous flowering climbing rose from a previous owner when I moved in 6 years ago. The problem is it only has one very tall main stem and all the branches are at the top and therefore the flowers. So I only benefit from their beauty from the first floor!
Each year I have tried pruning as far back as I can to the main stem to try to encourage lower branches but with no luck. I haven't pruned the main stem as I'm afraid it won't grow back and the rose will die. It's not as rigorous in growth as the other climbing rose in my garden.
I have attached a photo. Any advice on how I can encourage lower branches? My other climbing rose sprouted at least 15 new branches lower down it's main stem
so it must be possible!
Thanks in advance,
Nathalie
Posts
Growing in rather a shady spot there, so it's gone upwards towards the light and sun...
What I would do, and this is nothing to worry about, is cut those flowers off, all of them, and put them in a nice vase indoors, then cut the main stem of that rose right off at about opposite the 3rd horizontal bar on your wooden trellis.. the 3rd bar up from the ground that is. Yes it's drastic and you will be left with a 3 foot leafless cane, but give it a bucket of water, some rose fertilizer if you have any, and then allow it to sprout again, whereby you will get more growth lower down... You won't kill it... then you can train the new shoots towards the trellis.. but it's in a rather awkward position I have to say...
Alternatively, and this would always be my preferred option, is remove the plant, and get a fresh rose of your choice [they really don't cost much], and plant it somewhere else in your garden, or more to the centre/left of the trellis if possible, and not on the right, where that one is now...
Choice is yours on that....
Thank you for the advice. Yes I agree the position is not ideal. I thought moving it would probably be too risky. I'm a bit of a sentimental creature, the cost of a new plant is not an issue, but I hate to just throw a plant away because it's no longer convenient. I know I need help. Also I would like to ID this rose if I get a new one, as I am yet to find such a nice white rose in a garden centre when I have looked.
I gave it fertiliser a couple of months ago which should last it till September, would it be safe to give it another dose after cutting it back or would that be too much?
Do you think I can wait until most of the flowering is over before cutting back? This is probably the best it will be this year, the repeat flowers are not as good so I imagine it would be just a few more weeks.
Thanks again.
Yes, you can wait until it's finished flowering... no need to fertilize then...It'll recover in its own time.. don't worry if you don't get much on it for the rest of the year...some roses go into a sulk after a severe pruning, but recover the following Spring... nothing unusual in that..
I can't offer an i.d. guess from that photo, but if you got some close ups of the blooms, and the foliage, we could have a go perhaps..
Looks a bit like New Dawn.
Thank you, I had a look at New Dawn, it looks similar but my rose seems to very much be a white rose, whereas New Dawn seems to be a very soft pink. I have attached a close-u
p.
Thanks!
New Dawn is definitely a very pale pink https://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/new-dawn-climbing-rose.html which looks exactly like your photo.
A gorgeous rose.
The petals often fade to white as the bloom ages.
Last edited: 14 June 2017 12:14:54
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you all for your help. I'll give it a hard prune after flowering and if all else fails, buy New Dawn.
Looks exactly like my New Dawn that is just finishing its first flush
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.