Roseman Your advice is mainly for once blooming climbers that bloom on year old wood. Modern climbers, Autumn Sunset included, bloom on new wood. Modern climbers I had to severely prune this year have bloomed well on new wood. Having said all that, I agree that pruning climbers should not be done until after the first bloom, except for obviously dead or damaged canes. The best bloom is usually the first one and the more canes kept on the bush, the more blooms. After the first bloom new growth will provide additional canes for more blooms. Regarding removing old non-productive canes. I watch for signs of decreased flower production and old looking bark on a cane. When this occurs, I cut the cane back to promote new growth from the base. An older non-productive bush can often be rejuvinated by removing 1/3 of the biggest canes each year for three years. After that, keep an eye on it and remove only those not producing many flowers. Normally, in cold growing zones winter dieback will take care of this problem except on the hardiest roses. If a cane is removed after the first bloom, it gives the new growth all season to harden off before winter. Done now any new growth may be killed this winter. Depending on where you live in Washington, your winters can vary from severe to moderate. Except for making a climber manageable, do your pruning in the spring after it blooms.

Normally figs are pruned while they are dormant. Some people do so shortly after they go dormant, and some wait until a few weeks before the plants break dormancy. Before I knew better I sometimes pruned my trees after they had budded out in the spring. They seemed to do fine in spite of this. I'm sure it did set them back a bit though, but I'm in the deep South with a pretty long growing season. Your tree will likely grow straight up this year, and it sounds like it might even produce some main crop figs. It may ripen a breba or two, but it will likely drop them. What variety is your new fig? Next year before it breaks dormancy you can prune it back to whatever height you want the branching to take place, and it should branch out just fine. You will have some nice cuttings at that point too if you want to make some new trees. Good luck. Henry

Penelope, My advice is to remove just ONE cane, the oldest cane, cut down to the crown. Wait a whole year, and watch for new basal growth as is apparent to the far right of the bush in your photo. That new basal cane in your photo is the life blood of your bush. You want more to come, but all in due time. Do not stress these venerable, magnificent specimens. Using the bush in your photo as a model, if a new basal does not emerge in a years time after you remove the oldest one, then remove the next oldest cane at the bush's crown. No more cutting out canes at this point until you see new basal growths emerge. When new basal canes emerge remove the next oldest canes every 2-3 years. Your goal is to have as many young basal canes on a bush as possible. 4-6 basal canes a bush is ideal. Follow the above restorative pattern with all your magnificent old rose bushes. It may take several years (6-8 or more), for your bush(s) to all have brand new sets of basal canes. Patience is the name of the game. Do nothing hastily. BTW- OT, I have a brown and white pet pigeon, named Penelope (Penny...for short). She is a Pigmy Pouter, an English breed of fancy pigeon. Being a little sweetheart...gentle of temperament, she's easy to love. Penny laid an egg last evening. One of 7 other little Pigmy Pouters living in my small loft, Penny, along with one female Holle Cropper, a Dutch breed of pigeon, all 8 pigeons, are a great source of joy for an old man like me. Their antics are endearingly clownish. Moses

@lindac92 thank you for your response! Unfortunately I will have to repot it since it‘s in a large garbage can temporarily for transport (the old planter had broken). About 2/3 of the plant was already pruned off right before I saved it. I hadn’t thought about how I would be compounding the shock of this if I take more off for propagation. Is there any risk to the root system from the plant losing so much of its foliage at once? if so, how can I minimize the impact? I have heard of some people trimming off a proportional amount of roots to the foliage that was removed but don’t know if that applies in this instance. I’m thinking it may be best to follow your advice to leave it be after I situate it in a new pot. Give it water and sun. Wait for it to acclimate before deciding on a course of action.