They produce long climbing shoots and must be supported and tied to a fence, wall or pergola. To achieve the best display, the annual shoots must never be pruned or shortened, but, if possible, tied in a horizontal line. At pruning time it is advisable to remove some of the older branches from the inside of the plant, thus encouraging it to grow new climbing shoots every year.
Arches and arbours:
Rose-covered arches work best when the arches have a purpose, like defining a garden path or leading from one section of the garden to another. Use an arbour to screen a wall or as a focal point.
How to do it:
Plant a climber on either side of an arch or arbour. A single plant will not grow up, over and down the other side. Twine and tie the stems around the structure as the plant grows. The more horizontal the stems, the more flowers will be produced. Neaten climbers in July – August.
Loosen the ties, cut out old stems, shorten existing stems, if necessary, and retie onto the arch or arbour.
For large arches or arbours use: ‘The Ridge Rose’ and ‘French Panarosa’; for small to medium arches or arbours: Midinette climbing roses.
Walls:
Walls provide necessary structure in a garden but can be stark. Make a feature of the wall by softening it with roses, especially if you like the effect of flowers and foliage against weathered stone, brick or plaster. Unsightly walls can be completely obscured by roses.
How to do it:
Vigorous climbing roses like ‘Crème Caramel’, ‘Cherry Garland’ and ‘Pink Cloud’ will cover a wall in a season. Provide support with a trellis or wire and tie up the canes with plant ties. For a screen or hedge in front of a wall, plant Panarosa varieties or free-standing climbers close together. Soften a terrace or retaining wall, with roses that have cascading or arching growth like the ‘Granny’ roses (‘My Granny’, ‘Granny’s Delight’ and ‘Granny Dearest’) and low-growing shrub roses like ‘Adele Searll’, ‘Amarula Profusion’, ‘The Fairy’ and ‘Tawny Profusion’.
Plant roses 30–45cm from the wall. Prepare deep, large holes with plenty of compost to accommodate the extensive root systems. Climbers and Panarosas are disease-resistant, low-maintenance varieties that just need regular watering and fertilising.”
Fences and additional security:
Any fence can be beautified by either training climbers on and over them or letting them ramble over the fences. For added security there are very thorny and evergreen varieties. Our recommended rose for that purpose is Rosa Bracteata MaCartney.
Free Standing Climbers:
Our Spire Collection are cultivars which grow upright to a height of 2m to 3m and do not produce willowy canes. Their flowers are of Hybrid Tea shape and they are good cut-roses. With their neat growth habit they are very suited as tall background plantings behind rose beds, in corners or as neat hedges when planted 1.5m apart. At times it becomes necessary to top the very vigorous basal-stems at a height of 1.2m to encourage branching and additional flowers.
A rose panorama! Free flowering, vigorous and virtually maintenance free roses. The roses perform according to our set parameters of growing between 2m to 3m high and as wide with flowers on every cane. They should be free standing informal shrubs and groups, hedges or specimen plants, and should provide a panorama of roses to the onlooker/spectator. These roses can be planted on fences, at the periphery of a property or as a group in large lawns. By training them up pillars and even over arches and pergolas, a neatness and floriferousness superior to that with traditional climbing roses can be achieved.
