Climbing roses questions

[WonderPup]

My husband and I planted four climbing roses this weekend. I am not new to rose care, I had a rose garden at my mother's house for several years before getting married and moving out on my own. I didn't have any climbing roses though.
My husband had the idea to use wire fencing to give the roses something to climb. The idea is for them to climb and cover all or part of the wooden privacy fence. Will the wire fencing attached to the privacy fence be supportive enough for the roses to grow one? He is talking about something heavy gauge like rabbit fencing for gardends, not light chicken wire kind of stuff.
My second question is about pruning. I'll admite I am lazy LoL, and rarely pruned my rose garden the last year that I lived at home. Is pruning a climbing rose different than a tea rose?

[Chris]

Yes, the fence, even chicken wire, would be supportive enough. Climbing roses are strong enough to almost not need support at all.

But, that'll get in the way of pruning won't it? And yes, you need to prune climbing roses, removing old canes, removing spent flowers, etc, or they will grow out of control. A climbing rose can put up multiple 10-20 foot canes in a year if it is healthy, pruning is definitely required.

I believe what most people do is use plant ties (attached to a trellis) to support the rose as need be, thus leaving full access for pruning shears. It is certainly what I do.

If you stapled the wire fence to the wood fence you've got a trellis, and that'll be fine, if you make a cuff of wire fence around the rose, I think you'll end up inhibiting your pruning ability and that'll not be good.

[WonderPup]

Yup, the intend was the staple to wire to the wooden fence to give the rose something to climb. I assumed that a wooden privacy fence wouldn't give the plants anything to grip, and this climb.

Just so I understand correcltly... even if I put the wire on the wood fence I still will need to attach to rose at various points (as it grows) to the wire? It won't grip on it's own?

I am so excited to start a new garden in our new house, it seems like all we've done the last two weeks is eat, sleep, and talk about landscaping. Roses are my favorite and I really missed them while we were living in an appartment last year. The climbers are ment to be a backdrop for other rose plants which have yet to be selected. This will work won't it, provided I allow enough room between the plants for them to gorw and 'fill out" and enough room for pruning purposes (bleh, I hate that part lol).

The climbers are two joseph's coat's and two golden showers planted along the fenceline one JC, one GS and so on (I'm a real nut for patterns), any suggestions on good roses to plant in front of them to build my garden outwards from the fence? I was also thinking of planting baby's breath, has anyone else ever done that successfully in their rose garden? I saw a picture of it a few years back and loved it but am wondering if it's a good idea or not.

[Chris]

No, roses don't grip on their own. They don't have tendrils, suckers, or roots, and don't vine or twist around things. Really, a climbing rose is just a rose that gets really long canes, so you can weave them through the fence as they grow, or tie them to it.

I'm actually not a fan of mass planted roses. Roses have just too many disease problems, putting them close together just risks pandemic where they all die (but it'll help you identify ones that are more disease resistant).

To have them fill out to where they are touching... they're just going to get black spot and mildew like crazy.

Roses need air circulation big time, and don't water them at night (where the water can sit on leaves).

If you're set on doing this, look for disease resistant varieties.

I personally like roses as specimen plantings, not as mass plantings.

I would also not put shrub roses in front of climbing roses, because they are the same plant there will not be contrast and it'll lack depth and visual interest.

http://www.backyardgardening.net/article/foliage-contrast/

[WonderPup]

Got it, so attach the climbers to the wire fencing :) Thankyou.

I'm not dead set on my current idea. I'm always open to suggestions. I'm not really looking to make a hedge or anything in front of the climbers. More like planting bushes in front and inbetween the climbing plants... if that makes any sense.
My problem is that full sun is in short supply in most areas around the edges of my backyard. Only one side of the yard gets full sun.. which ummm I think is the north side. I would need to get a compass to be 100% sure, I get a little mixed up trying to remember directions lol. So I suppose I am trying to get the most rose enjoyment I can in such a small space.

Doing any type of beds or plantings in the middle of the backyard or away from the fencelines at all in the back is almost out of the questions. Being a dog trainer I need every bit of open space for various training activities. The areas I'm not using for training are at the very back of the yard and are very shaded with lots of trees blending into woods so we are planning a woodland type/ shade garden there since it isn't really good for much else.

The front yard is also pretty shaddy :( Leave it to me to fall in love with a plant and have nowhere to put it :P

Maybe I will just have to be content with the climbers for now and some smaller plants in front if anything at all.... maybe a small border with mini roses? That might be easy to keep far enough away that they won't touch. Otherwise I suppose my best bet would be hardy tea roses of some kind...

Guess it's a good thing that I'm on a newlywed's budget and cannot just go out and spend big bucks on a whole bunch of plants all at once without first having to really think through my garden plans :)

[DonB]

I love roses too, however I got burned out on all the maintenance they require (I used to raise test roses for J&P). The new house had NO landscaping so there is way too much to do. :)

I highly recommend the knockout roses. Admittedly, they are not near as full, or beautiful as many of the varieties available, however, they are extremely resistant to most of roses normal enemies, they flower profusely, can be planted almost anywhere, come in a variety of colors, and can be pruned any time you want. They grow FAST! I even moved a bunch from house to house this summer in TN and they did just fine.

[Rose White]

Got it, so attach the climbers to the wire fencing :) Thankyou.

I'm not dead set on my current idea. I'm always open to suggestions. I'm not really looking to make a hedge or anything in front of the climbers. More like planting bushes in front and inbetween the climbing plants... if that makes any sense.
My problem is that full sun is in short supply in most areas around the edges of my backyard. Only one side of the yard gets full sun.. which ummm I think is the north side. I would need to get a compass to be 100% sure, I get a little mixed up trying to remember directions lol. So I suppose I am trying to get the most rose enjoyment I can in such a small space.

Doing any type of beds or plantings in the middle of the backyard or away from the fencelines at all in the back is almost out of the questions. Being a dog trainer I need every bit of open space for various training activities. The areas I'm not using for training are at the very back of the yard and are very shaded with lots of trees blending into woods so we are planning a woodland type/ shade garden there since it isn't really good for much else.

The front yard is also pretty shaddy :( Leave it to me to fall in love with a plant and have nowhere to put it :P

Maybe I will just have to be content with the climbers for now and some smaller plants in front if anything at all.... maybe a small border with mini roses? That might be easy to keep far enough away that they won't touch. Otherwise I suppose my best bet would be hardy tea roses of some kind...

Guess it's a good thing that I'm on a newlywed's budget and cannot just go out and spend big bucks on a whole bunch of plants all at once without first having to really think through my garden plans :)

If you put a fence around your roses, which could have climbing roses growing over it, your dogs would not be able to get inside and disturb the specimen bushes. Have fun! :D

Rose White, author of
Easy Gardens A to Z