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Climbing roses for North Facing fence.

LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,237
edited September 2019 in Plants
I've never grown roses, but I am thinking whether to plant a white climbing rose on a 6ft x 24ft section of north fence which gets little to no direct sun. The planting bed is 2ft wide and contains quite a bit of slag from the sub base of a path which I've removed, but will be dug out and topsoiled to 12-18" deep. Would Mme Alfred Carriere or Claire Austin be potential do-ers or are there any others I should be thinking about?

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,134
    @Marlorena is the one to ask @WillDB, but my guess would be that there's bound to be something suitable, even if not the ones you'd like  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,237
    As long as it's not yellow....  :o
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,889
    @WillDB
    ….stick with Mme. Alfred Carriere.... it's purpose built for north facing, as long as there are no overhanging trees... I grew it in Cornwall on a wall with similar dimensions to your fence and sunless... you should place it in the middle and train the long canes left and right towards the horizontal as it grows... so tying back to wires along the fence will be necessary...

    ...it is a rose with grace, scent and few thorns - there are some which catch out the unwary but not many...
    ..I am not a lover of Claire Austin,... the blooms shatter after 2 days...and I feel it lacks grace...

    ..there are other roses suitable but they have many thorns, lack disease resistance or poor repeat blooms.. so I pass them over for someone new to roses... best of luck ...
    East Anglia, England
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,237
    Great, thanks Marlorena. I think I like the more tousled looking flowers of Mme anyway. I'm planning to train it horizontally on wires but I'm sure that will generate new questions as I attempt the process!
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,237
    I have pre-ordered a bare root one, should give me the impetus to get the planting bed sorted by November!
  • angie4angie4 Posts: 44
    Agree about Madame Alfred Carriere, lovely and tough as old boots. Only thing is she grows like the clappers, she's up and over my cottage roof in no time!
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,237
    Well that's a good thing and a bad thing I suppose... as long as I can get her to grow more horizontally and can keep her in check I hope she'll work out well for me.
  • robbie2redrobbie2red Posts: 59
    I'm in the process of doing this on a gable now guys. Can I plant anything with it (along side) for some winter interest that I can just chop down come March for the rose to show off for summer??? Not asking a lot am I??!  :D
    Something climbing I mean, like a clematis or anything??

    Thank you!! 
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