Can't do anything about it now in any case. I don't know what forum you were reading. My recommendation for any one who might ask me is to prune when the forsythia is in bloom. Sometimes that is in March, sometimes that is in early April. No forsythia is in bloom here yet. Even though it was in the 60's here last weekend, no pruning here. We schedule the pruning of our community beds the first weekend in April, just to try to set a date. Each variety, each plant has its own needs. "Austins" is too generic. Some like a hard pruning, some don't. You'll find out over time what is best. If you didn't prune enough, you can go back and trim more off later. Don't obsess about it. Oh, and some just aren't good bloomers until they have matured, 3 - 4 years. Some just aren't good bloomers at all. Paul Z. has some videos posted, one is on pruning. Here is a link that might be useful: Ashdown Videos

Stephen, if you're finished, congrats!! It was a wonderful weekend to be outside. Hope you didn't get sunburned! I've been finished for a couple weeks but I'm still healing - I've got a large thorn still working its way out of my thumb. Ouch. This weekend I got out the shovel and played in the dirt, digging up perennials and moving them around (to what I *hope* will be better spots), and dividing daylillies. I also hit the local nurseries for the first time this year. Didn't buy much. Yes, that means I did buy a few things. They always get me with those $4 small pot perennials. My 10 month old walked in the grass in bare feet for the first time this weekend - now it really doesn't get much better than that!

I'm new to roses (planted my first rose garden in 2011) and, thus far, they're all healthy, but I do read a lot and want to be educated and ready to remove plants if it becomes necessary. I saw my first RRD rose at my local independent nursery a few days ago. A landscaper had brought in a branch and blooms. The horticulturist on staff at the nursery was kind enough to gather a few of us around and point out what to look for. In all honesty, it looked really different in person than what I had here-to-then seen online and read in descriptions of the virus. It was really helpful to see the "witch's broom"-like growth, the blooms that looked like it was grown at a leaking nuclear plant, and the weird thorniness that were like thorn-hair. This particular afflicted plant was off a Knockout variety but I know it can affect all roses, so I'm watching everything at my house, praying that I don't have to "euthanize" any. Pretty scary. Wish there was something we could do to avoid it. Makes you feel so helpless. . .

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