Sonia asked:
>I recently planted a climbing rose in the front of our house and I was
>hoping to get some advice on the proper way to train it. I recently
>took one of the stems and tried to (gently) pull it towards the
>trellis I would like it to grow up. The stem ended up bending in a way
>that didn't feel very healthy and I think I might have damaged it.
>What is the proper way to do this?
If the stem doesn't break or crack, then there is no problem, go for
it. IF this makes the leaves face in the wrong direction, don't
worry, they will turn and face the light eventually. As Gail has
mentioned, different varieties will have different characteristics.
Some will have stiff canes and some will have flexible ones. Some
will throw out 4 foot new shoots and others 12 foot ones.
The best way to train a climber is to attach the longest and largest
canes to some sort of structure using some sort of string or plastic
ties. The best time to do this is in the winter when you can see the
structure of the plant easily and the leaves are dropped. If you pay
attention over the years, you can make it grow wherever you would
like.
Most climbers will throw out long canes or side shoots in the mid to
late part of the season. Do not cut any of these off until after you
have trained the rose in the winter. This gives you more options of
which canes to favor for growing in the direction you want the plant
to go.
The biggest problem most people have with their climbers is
overpruning. The rose won't climb if you keep cutting off the long
canes. It seems obvious, but to most folks it is not. I don't even
touch a climber with the pruners for at least 3 years after planting.
Climbing roses are not natural climbing plants, they are just
particular rose varieties that produce long canes. They must be
attached by you to the structure. I myself grow about 50 climbers in
my yard and I use plastic 'wire ties' to attach them to the structures
I build. I build the structures out of steel 'concrete reinforcement
bar' or 'rebar'. It is inexpensive and can easily be attached to
itself by simply bending flexible steel wire made for the purpose.
Good luck,
Bob Bauer
http://www.rose-roses.com/
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