Climbing Roses

Choose a support: Roses produce more flowers when the structural canes grow horizontally, such as along a fence, than when grown vertically, as on a rose tower. When selecting a trellis, also consider ease of access for pruning and the trellis' ability to hold the weight of a full grown rose in wet and windy weather.Install the trellis: If possible, install the support before planting your roses. Be sure the support is firmly anchored in the ground and strong enough for the mature weight of the plants. If growing against a building, position the trellis a few feet from the wall to allow for air circulation and maintenance. Place it at right angles to the prevailing wind or in a sheltered spot in very windy areas.Plant your rose: Dig a hole 18 to 30 inches from the support. Mix compost or well-rotted manure and a handful of superphosphate with the removed soil. If planting a bare-root rose, make a cone of soil in the center of the hole on which to drape the roots. Plant the graft union, the bulge where the top joins the bottom, 2 to 6 inches below the soil line in cold-winter climates, slightly above the soil level in warmer regions.Attach the canes: Climbing roses produce two kinds of shoots: the main structural canes and the flowering shoots which grow from these canes. Select the sturdiest structural canes and tie them loosely to the support with strips of stretchy cloth, such as pantyhose. Space the canes evenly and, ideally, as close to horizontal as possible.Maintain: Allow climbers to grow unpruned, except to remove dead or broken branches, for two or three years. On established plants, prune dead, damaged, and overcrowded canes to the base. Tie in new canes to replace them. Prune the flowering side shoots to two to three buds above the structural canes during the dormant season.