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How do I train a climbing rose to grow on a fence?

14 years ago

I'm a garden newbie, and I planted 3 different climbing roses against a wooden fence this spring, not really thinking about how to train them to climb on the fence. The fence is 5' 3" high, then there's a 10" gap that's topped off with a decorative wood frame, so the whole thing is 6' 7" high. I planted Cecile de Bruner, Iceberg and Polka. I guess I need a trellis against the fence, and was thinking about using the wire grid that's used for reinforcing cement and attaching it to the fence. Has anyone tried that? Does it work? What other ideas have worked for you?

I really appreciate your help, and all the information I have gotten from the rose forum. And the photos are wonderful!

Featured Answer

buford

14 years ago

Instead of a trellis, you could use eye hooks and wire. You string the wire at 12 inch intervals and then you can tie the canes horizontally to the wire. Eventually you will have canes horizontally along the fence.

I did this with two climbers on the front of my house and it is much easier to upkeep than a trellis. One of those is Iceberg. Here is how it looked this spring:

{{gwi:283185}}

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Comments (8)

roseman
14 years ago
Tie the canes to the fence with twist ties or old panty hose. Climbrs don't climb of their own volition, you have to help them.
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New Dawn, and all the other repeat blooming hardy climbers I know, actively snigger at the nice, neat little drawings of training climbers in rose books. For one thing, they are very much 3-D objects, which take up a larger footprint than often expected. So one reason you are having a hard time distinguishing between main canes and laterals is that it is a *human* distinction that has little to do with what the rose is doing. If it isn't giving a good spring flush, I'd suspect something else is going on besides lack of pruning. Repeat bloom is heavily dependent on deadheading, so that is where the pruning issue is going to show up. If the rose is simply taking up too much room, find a handy suit of armor and wade in. My honest feeling is that this isn't really the right rose for the location - that there are warm climate climbers that would do a better job of hiding the tower and be easier to train. However, I don't know those.
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My fence is about 8 or 9 feet tall by the way.
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I'm 'late to the party' on this topic..... About 10 years ago we swagged (grew horizontally by tying it to chains) New Dawn in/on our south alley gate and arbour. As others have commented, growing horizontally produces copious lateral stems and buds - I think the lateral stems should be kept to a a few inches long, but we were too lazy to do that :-) Initially, New Dawn was very 'clean' and blacksprt wasn't an issue. Over several years it started getting some blackspot. We never sprayed though. New Dawn grows vigorously and has wicked thorns! It was starting to get dangerous to walk down the alley and there wasn't much room left on the swag chains - so we removed the roses and replaced then with (safer!) clematises! So, there's no question that the rose will do well grown horizontally, but be prepared to control/manage the growth! Some pictures: The rose is pale pink but the color is 'washed out' in some of the pictures below.... New Dawn: Looking up the alley to the arbour, gate and swags June 23 2010: Buds on lateral growths in early June: Horizontal growth in bloom: DH eliminated New Dawn July 2010 - note the rose gauntlets and eye protection! He should have been wearing a shirt, although the day was very hot.... Blood was shed....!
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Here's the shade above my Blossomtime, before I had a tree cut down. Pretty shady for good repeat bloom, but no doubt the plant would do better with more sun. You might look in to the Canadian Explorer roses for extra hardy ones. Rosecanadian could probably recommend some. For zone 6b most of those I mentioned should be ok, but unusually cold winters can do some damage anywhere. In my zone , zone 7a, we've had temps down to four degrees and prolonged freezes and most of my roses came through pretty well. I don't usually get big die back on my climbers. I'm in NC piedmont. I tend to guess that your intense sun will help make up for some shade too.
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hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
14 years ago
was thinking about using the wire grid that's used for reinforcing cement and attaching it to the fence

This is an excellent idea, I would do that. Put spacers (like blocks of wood) between the grid and the fence so there is air circulation, which will benefit both the rose and the fence. Make sure the grid is very well attached and make sure the fence itself is sturdy, because climbers can eventually get quite heavy.
jlalfred
14 years ago
Eye hooks screwed into the wood. Then use cable ties.
You can buy long thin ones and adjust them as needed.
silvalion
14 years ago
Hi, (For anyone who may have an answer) I have a similar situation but my roses are in front of a brick wall. I didn't realize they were climbers, thought they were shrubs but now I have several long shoots that are flopping over. They would look pretty climbing up the brick, so how do I get them to train up a brick wall? Or should I just trim back and keep them as shrubs?
alisande
14 years ago
Silvalion, see Buford's pic above. And check out the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wall Trellis Kit
diana_noil
14 years ago
That is so pretty Buford! What kind of wire did you use?
marcia638
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone for your help. Buford, your Iceberg looks so graceful on the wall. I can only hope that mine will look 1/2 as good. I'm still a little unclear as to how the climbers get shaped..it looks like you might be trimming back the canes so as not to grow over the window? Or do you just let them grow at will? And what kind of wire are you using...it must have to be very strong...I have searched and searched the web and several rose books for specific answers on training climbing roses against fences and walls. I'm amazed at how little information I can find.

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