Would you like to go a step further and enhance your garden with these recognizable and spectacular flowers? Just follow this small guide from Green Ecologist, where we teach you step by step and in a very simple way everything you need to know about the climbing roses, their care and pruning.
If you follow the steps and indications of this practical guide, we assure you that it will not cost you a great effort to keep your climbing roses in pots, or planted in the ground, in perfect condition and you will be able to enjoy their beautiful flowers. Keep reading and discover their characteristics, varieties, basic care and when is the best time to prune them and how to do it.
Climbing roses: varieties and characteristics
Belonging to the Rosaceae genusThe climbing roses come, for the most part, from Asia. With spiny, strong and woody stems, they usually reach a height of approximately 5 meters, although some varieties can reach up to about 20 meters in height. In addition, thanks to their type of growth, based on the creation of strong suckers, these plants are perfect for decorate and upholster easily elevated areas such as pergolas, trellises, facades and all kinds of surfaces in height. In addition, another reason why they are so sought after to decorate exteriors is that most of climbing roses are smelly, like all well-cared roses.
In addition to its more than recognizable perfume, climbing roses offer a great variety of colors ranging from white to red, through yellow and pink among many other tones. And although its flowering time usually occurs at the beginning of summer, there are species that keep it well into autumn.
We can classify climbing roses into three large blocks:
- Reflowering with large flowers: are those rose bushes that have larger flowers.
- Reflowering with small flowers: They are those rose bushes that usually show their flowers in the form of a bouquet.
- Not re-blooming: are those rose bushes that have a single abundant flowering during the year. They are the strongest and most abundant flowering.
Climbing rose varieties
Here is a small list of some of the most popular and sought-after varieties of climbing roses for exterior decoration:
- Rose bush New Dawn.
- Rose Elfe.
- Rose Lady Sylvia.
- Oriental climbing rose.
- Rose Aloha.
- Rose Pink Cloud.
- Rosa Madame Alfred Carriere.
If you like rose bushes a lot and want to make your flowers really beautiful, we advise you to choose the best variety according to the care you can offer and what you are looking for, as well as read this simple guide with 7 secrets for growing roses perfect.
Climbing roses: basic care
Now that you know better the characteristics and varieties of this type of rose bushes, we are going to show you the basic care for climbing roses so that they are healthy and flourish well.
Light, temperature and location
Climbing roses need controlled sunlight, so their maximum exposure throughout the day should not exceed four hours. It is advisable to plant it in an open area and that they do not compete with other plants for sunlight. It is also important to know that, depending on the species, they will prefer places with more shade and where the sun only affects the upper part of the plant. Of course, in order for it to grow well, it will need to be placed in an area that it can climb (attached to a wall, fence, pergola, etc.).
Thus, to ensure that you locate it correctly, talk to the professional of the store where you bought the climbing rose to indicate the specific care of the variety, starting with its need for direct sunlight and its location.
Irrigation and fertilizer
These plants need a certain degree of humidity, hence their care can seem demanding. Avoid that the flowerbed or very large pot where your rose is planted is flooded or dry due to lack of watering. During the summer, the irrigation dose should be abundant and should be done at least four times throughout the week.
Like many other species, climbing roses need an abundant fertilizer in late winter or early spring, in this way a more complete flowering is achieved. In the case of re-flowering climbing roses, they must also be paid at the beginning of summer. We recommend using natural fertilizers and, if you buy it, look for a specific one for this type of plants.
How to guide a climbing rose
- Build and attach a stand for your climbing roses: Remember that the rose bushes, as they do not have tendrils to hold on to, must be guided so that they adapt to the desired surface. It is highly recommended that you use a robust support to avoid damage due to its own weight, especially when it increases in its time of greatest flowering.
- Choose the type of rose bush and plant it: Once you have chosen the variety of climbing rose with which you are going to work, make sure to plant it a little away from the structure, but never more than 30 cm. You must also take into account the climate of your area when planting it; if it is warm, the rose bush should be covered at least 5 cm above the root and in the case of a colder climate it should be planted approximately 12 cm.
- Water and fertilize your climbing rose: The first watering should always be abundant to help the growth of the plant, as well as the use of compost, but do not forget that it is not recommended that the stem is surrounded by a lot of organic material. In this way you will avoid possible diseases.
- Tie and adjust the stem: Finally, you must channel the growth of your rose bush, as long as the stems are long enough to guide the stems of the rose. I recommend that you use some string or ribbon strong enough so that it remains intact during the growth of the rose bush. Of course, do not press this against the plant, leave space for it to grow freely, but without leaving the guide that you have marked.
Pruning climbing roses: when and how to do it
The first pruning should be done once the rosebush has reached adulthood, which is usually approximately at 3 years, when you have already covered part of the support. Here the climbing rose will already have a vigorous main stem from which other lateral ones sprout to favor its flowering.
The best time to prune climbing roses is always a late winter or early spring; just when its flowering season ends.
How to prune a climbing rose step by step
- Sharpen and sanitize your pruning tools.
- Eliminate bad shoots.
- Always cut the shoots above a bud and diagonally to prevent the water provided during irrigation from remaining in the wound; This way you will avoid diseases or damage to your climbing rose.
- For the oldest shoots, we recommend that you always prune them from the base, without actually doing it at ground level, as it would be excessive. For newer and side shoots, trim back about a third from the tip to encourage branching.
- Water and fertilize your rose bush. To do this, use granular rose fertilizer and organic compost.
Do not forget that the pruning climbing roses It is always a cleaning pruning, so we should never over-prune them. Always keep it free of diseased or old branches and stimulate its growth by pruning and guiding the new branches. If there are excess hickeys, remove them.
During pruning, as long as it is not done to eliminate diseased branches, you can take advantage of it to obtain cuttings. In this other Green Ecologist article on Planting rose cuttings: preparation and how to do it, you will be able to consult everything you need to take advantage of these branches.
If you want to read more articles similar to Climbing roses: care and pruning, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.
