@owd potter I think I can see what's happened there... thanks for the extra pictures..
I take it you did not plant this rose? and that it was in the garden when you took it over?
Looking at the foliage and flowers, what you are nurturing there is a wild rose rootstock, the whole plant is R. canina, the new and the old growth... the pretty white flowers and hips, .. all dog rose.. that is not a garden rose as such..
I suggest originally it was a Standard rose, they are often grafted onto dog rose stock, but the cultivar variety has long since died off at the top, or removed accidentally in the past by incorrect pruning, and the trunk of the standard, that thick trunk, has suckered right at the top and taken over, and has now produced two long canes from the base as well...
@Marlorena Thanks for the interesting analysis. No, I did not plant it, inherited 18 months ago. There hasn't been much nurturing TBH, and i'm not particularly attached to it, was thinking, had it been a climber, to retrain it along the fence, but I will just cut it back for now as suggested by @Obelixx and then probably replace it with a climber or rambler when I get around to dealing with this border. Many thanks both. Owd
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I think I can see what's happened there... thanks for the extra pictures..
I take it you did not plant this rose? and that it was in the garden when you took it over?
Looking at the foliage and flowers, what you are nurturing there is a wild rose rootstock, the whole plant is R. canina, the new and the old growth... the pretty white flowers and hips, .. all dog rose.. that is not a garden rose as such..
I suggest originally it was a Standard rose, they are often grafted onto dog rose stock, but the cultivar variety has long since died off at the top, or removed accidentally in the past by incorrect pruning, and the trunk of the standard, that thick trunk, has suckered right at the top and taken over, and has now produced two long canes from the base as well...
Up to you whether you want to keep it or not....
Thanks for the interesting analysis. No, I did not plant it, inherited 18 months ago.
There hasn't been much nurturing TBH, and i'm not particularly attached to it, was thinking, had it been a climber, to retrain it along the fence, but I will just cut it back for now as suggested by @Obelixx and then probably replace it with a climber or rambler when I get around to dealing with this border.
Many thanks both.
Owd