Drew, I'm sorry, I did accidentally (subconsciously on purpose, probably) exaggerate, but the guide doesn't recommend spray after pruning. However, upon further reading, I've found that your information is correct and copper spray is widely recommended after pruning even though it isn't very affective- but enough so to be worth doing according to current Cornell and other guidelines. I stand corrected and thank you for bringing this to my attention. After reading all this material about cherry canker I am somewhat surprised that my careless timing of pruning has never led to any outbreaks of this infection over the last 25 years. Cherries are a minority species in orchards I manage and I am very busy doing non-pruning work in the first couple weeks after trees come out of dormancy. It would be expensive to come back to prune only cherries and peaches at many of the smaller orchards I manage. I recently started managing cherries with summer pruning anyway- but only to better manage fruiting wood. I will now pay more attention to weather forecasts before performing this kind of pruning. I will wait until I actually see some cherry canker somewhere before I start spraying after pruning. I have to keep customer expenses down. If you hadn't posted about it I wouldn't think about cherry canker much at all. Thanks again.

Righto. Disregard all who spout nonsense about the "bleeding" of maples, etc. when pruned in late winter/early spring. This is simply an indication of positive pressure within the tree as compared to the surrounding air. It is not a problem for the plant. Elms, at least in areas where Dutch elm disease is present, should not be pruned during the summer. And no tree should be pruned during the part of the fall season when trees are losing their leaves. Likewise, no tree should be pruned during spring bud swell/leaf expansion. Other than those factors, it's pretty much wide open. +oM

I'm with Mad Gallica - you may always be wrestling with the weight of that rose, and I'd hate to see it damage your house. You might look into a freestanding arch to let it climb over, which means you can possibly contain the monster without having to cut all the canes back. If you want to reduce bloodshed and hassle, by all means it shouldn't hurt the rose, but you may not get much bloom in the next spring as a result. Michael is quite right (of course) that we aim under normal conditions to cut no more than 1/3 of the canes in a given year, and not to prune the main canes of a climber much at all, but stretch the canes sideways on the support. Obviously you're not dealing with normal circumstances however. My experiences with a freestanding Quadra may help you envision what you want from this rose. Quadra is another monster growing, very thorny climber that is hardy in our zone 5 (and beyond). I was lazy about setting up support in its first couple of years, so mine grew into the very wide bushy shrub like yours appears to be. I finally wrestled an 8' metal arch on top of Quadra and attached all the branches I could to one of the side panels without being too systematic (this took several hours and thick gloves and clothing, so brace yourself). You'll still need something to anchor the arch to the house, or the whole thing will tip over in the wind, wrecking that work tidying. However, now that I've done that work, I don't ever have to wade into Quadra to prune it other than clearing out the dead wood (if any) and encouraging new canes to fit into one side or the other of the arch. After a couple of years, it looks more like a traditional climber, once I pulled new canes to the sides, though there still are canes in the middle that fill in with blooms. Your New Dawn looks like my Quadra did when freestanding, so it's likely to work if you're game, and you can get it tidied up now. Of course, the severe pruning will save you bloodshed now if you want to go that route, but I'd still recommend something like this as you think about supports. Here's what Quadra looked like when I first wrestled it into the arch. You can't see, but it's anchored into the brick corner behind the arch with some supports my husband drilled into the brick. You can see on the left the green velcro-type strips I use to secure it to the arch in strategic places. These are available in most garden or hardware stores. I don't have a good "before" picture, but mine looked a lot like yours when I started. Good for you to be willing to work with this rose rather than just getting rid of it (not an easy prospect either). We're happy to help with ideas. Cynthia

The best time to repot/root prune F carica (the hardy fig) is in spring. The first time you repot, keep a close eye on the buds and be prepared in advance to repot at the very first sign of budswell. The next and all subsequent repots should be 2 weeks earlier than when you noticed bud movement. Take note of when you see the first sign of budswell each year. After several years you'll be able to predict with fair accuracy when buds will move, and you'll be able to repot just before they do. Buds on your hardy figs will be moving (in most cases) 2-3 weeks before figs and mulberries (close relatives) in the landscape are starting to push. Nothing is carved in stone, though. Several years ago, we had a week of weather in the mid to upper 80s in March. I had all sorts of trees breaking bud and had to take a week off to repot. I remember standing on the driveway in shorts and tank top with a hella bad sunburn by week's end, in spite of the SPF 35 I had slathered on. So pay attention and be prepared, in case Mother Nature serves up a curve ball. You CAN repot in fall after leaves are shed, but it's very important that you protect the roots of trees repotted in fall from any chance of freezing. Al