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Climbing rose advice "generous gardener"

Hi, i planted a climbing rose recently... and i've never grown roses before.

I know i don't prune it in the first year.

However, I'd like some advice on fertilizing and if and when it requires it. 

I water it about once a week at the moment.

many thanks.

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Posts

  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,902

    You can give a small handful of rose fertilizer around the base of the plant right now if you want, and then leave it until next year...  just sprinkle it around the plant and use a little hand tool to hoe it into the soil..

    Are you growing this rose on a wall or fence?  with support it could get up to 15 foot, but freestanding you can keep it to about 6 foot..

    I grow it on a short obelisk... here's a photo of mine from a week or so ago, it has a lovely scent..

    image

    East Anglia, England
  • image

    Thanks Marlorena, I will do that. Your roses look gorgeous. I'm glad I've gone for this one... can't wait to smell them. Yes, growing it beside the front door on trellis. Nicola. 

  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,902

    ..looks a nice plant... hope it does well for you there...and thank you... don't expect too much in the first season.  I found it was a bit slow to take off... Austin roses often need 3 seasons before you start to see the best from them...

    Last edited: 13 June 2017 23:11:05

    East Anglia, England
  • Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Yes, it is quite a narrow space... so fingers crossed!

  • Marlorena said:

    ..looks a nice plant... hope it does well for you there...and thank you... don't expect too much in the first season.  I found it was a bit slow to take off... Austin roses often need 3 seasons before you start to see the best from them...

    Last edited: 13 June 2017 23:11:05

    Marlorena said:

    ..looks a nice plant... hope it does well for you there...and thank you... don't expect too much in the first season.  I found it was a bit slow to take off... Austin roses often need 3 seasons before you start to see the best from them...

    Last edited: 13 June 2017 23:11:05

    How beautiful! 
    I'm itching to get mine out of its pot and finally into the ground.
    Marlorena, which clematis would you grow through it, if you had one growing up along a bay window and over a front door?
    I cannot decide.
    Also, will it be harder to prune if I am growing a clematis through it, do you think? 
    I want to be sure not to make any huge mistake.
    Thank you.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,154
    That's a very confined space and both clematis and roses are hungry, thirsty plants.   I would stick to encouraging your GG to grow well and save a clematis for another spot.   Bear in mind that climbing roses flower best on short stems produced form horizontal or diagonally trained stems and yours has a way to go before it can spread across the bay.   
    Feed it as Marlorena suggests and keep it watered in dry spells as the wall will absorb a lot of moisture.   Apart from regular dead-heading you only need to prune stems which grow out form the wall and refuse to be tied in.  As it matures in a few years you may need to do rejuvenating pruning which involves removing old stems at the base to let newer ones maintain vigour.

    A group 3 clematis won't interfere as they are cut back hard in Feb/March and then pulled out so you'll be able to see your rose stems clearly.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,902
    edited May 2019
    @Jess is in the Garden 


    Hello... this is an old thread... so my photo of The GG is out of date..  but what I will say about it is that, it may stay as a 5 foot shrub for a couple of years before it takes off and becomes a climber.. I can't say how quickly it will do it for you.. you might be lucky and it happens in the first season, for me it was year 3 - 2018, before it threw up 10 foot climbing canes...  in this case, you would need to take care not to allow the clematis to overwhelm and inhibit your rose... 

    Assuming your rose has reached, say, 10 foot - which it isn't going to do immediately... then I would choose a clematis like 'Mme. Julia Correvon', which is a deep pink/purple colour... the reason I would choose this is because The GG rose starts its flowering about June 3rd... the clematis starts blooming from around June 10th... that way you get them both merging... [these approximate dates are for my garden in East Anglia]…

    I would not want a clematis that flowers too early in May, or too late from July...

    An alternative is 'Etoile Violette' which also starts early which is a nice deep colour..

    ..but I do stress both these are very vigorous and you do need to keep them off your rose until it's got those climbing canes going...  please be aware of that...

    ps. you asked about pruning... no I don't see this as an issue really...you're going to have to deadhead the rose as the season goes along, which will mean rummaging around the clematis stems, but this isn't a problem for me... you might need a ladder... and of course you can remove all the clematis growth by late autumn - I do it in November, just cut the whole lot down and drag it off the rose...
    East Anglia, England
  • Obelixx said:
    That's a very confined space and both clematis and roses are hungry, thirsty plants.   I would stick to encouraging your GG to grow well and save a clematis for another spot.   Bear in mind that climbing roses flower best on short stems produced form horizontal or diagonally trained stems and yours has a way to go before it can spread across the bay.   
    Feed it as Marlorena suggests and keep it watered in dry spells as the wall will absorb a lot of moisture.   Apart from regular dead-heading you only need to prune stems which grow out form the wall and refuse to be tied in.  As it matures in a few years you may need to do rejuvenating pruning which involves removing old stems at the base to let newer ones maintain vigour.

    A group 3 clematis won't interfere as they are cut back hard in Feb/March and then pulled out so you'll be able to see your rose stems clearly.
    Cross post - the photo isn't of my plot! But I take your point that both plants will have a fair bit of climbing to do, before they hit the top of the bay. I'm hoping to then train them along and over the door too.  My plant will be a good sized new bed that is rather open. I'll take a pic once it's up and running.
  • Marlorena said:
    @Jess is in the Garden 


    Hello... this is an old thread... so my photo of The GG is out of date..  but what I will say about it is that, it may stay as a 5 foot shrub for a couple of years before it takes off and becomes a climber.. I can't say how quickly it will do it for you.. you might be lucky and it happens in the first season, for me it was year 3 - 2018, before it threw up 10 foot climbing canes...  in this case, you would need to take care not to allow the clematis to overwhelm and inhibit your rose... 

    Assuming your rose has reached, say, 10 foot - which it isn't going to do immediately... then I would choose a clematis like 'Mme. Julia Correvon', which is a deep pink/purple colour... the reason I would choose this is because The GG rose starts its flowering about June 3rd... the clematis starts blooming from around June 10th... that way you get them both merging... [these approximate dates are for my garden in East Anglia]…

    I would not want a clematis that flowers too early in May, or too late from July...

    An alternative is 'Etoile Violette' which also starts early which is a nice deep colour..

    ..but I do stress both these are very vigorous and you do need to keep them off your rose until it's got those climbing canes going...  please be aware of that...

    ps. you asked about pruning... no I don't see this as an issue really...you're going to have to deadhead the rose as the season goes along, which will mean rummaging around the clematis stems, but this isn't a problem for me... you might need a ladder... and of course you can remove all the clematis growth by late autumn - I do it in November, just cut the whole lot down and drag it off the rose...
    Thank you very much for your input, that's really helpful.
    One question though, from a  relative novice when it comes to growing vigorous plants in the ground (I've mainly gardened in pots so far, so my vigorous ones were conveniently held back): how do I best keep the clematis off the rose until the rose has produced its climbing canes? 
    I was planning to attach wires horizontally along the side of the bay and over the to of it and the doorway, for them to climb over.
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    edited May 2019
    My GG, though not large, is about 6 years old, by the way. Very healthy and has been pruned to keep it in its large terracotta pot. Hopefully its age will mean that I don't have to wait too long for it to take off! 
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