We have pruned ours pretty hard previously. The problem I'm having this year is that I have 2 in containers on each side of the entryway to the front porch with an iron trellis arched over the walk. We had so much rain, I guess they don't like that because I've had major die-back on both of them. I hope they don't die. The ones in the ground are doing fine, but I had to prune one back a lot because I got that stinkin' stink vine growing into it and couldn't get it out until I cut the honeysuckle way back. There was also some of that stinkin' bleeding heart that we discussed awhile ago that I had removed from that spot a long time ago and still the deep roots are sending out new growth constantly. GRRRR....

Is it just your fence or the whole community? If it's just your section, you could try paste wax, might slicken it up a bit so they couldn't get a grip. Again, could be cause for a suit, but heck, they could get hurt as is and try to nail you for that. Such a suit-happy society we are in. Anyway, back to the paste was. I have a friend who sold outdoor wrought iron accessories through her business. The manufacturer recommended for prolonged outdoor exposure, use paste wax to protect and preserve it. I've used it, doesn't hurt the wrought iron at all (of course I'm talking about plant hangers and shepherd's hooks, things like that). You'd probably have to be sure all wax was worn off/weathered off/removed if you ever did decide to repaint. Or one of those silicone sprays (our window installer used that on something, I think to get parts to move freely). That stuff is pretty slick as well.

I've had a slinky around my shepherd's hook for two summers now. It has Not stopped the squirrels. At first it did, but they figured out how to leap on putting their little paws in between the slinky rings and scale that shepherd's hook anyway and hang on it, stretch it out, and eat away. This year I found them laying across the rooftop of the bird feeder reaching down eating the cakes. So, I have found that sprinkling a little cayenne pepper on the cakes definitely works! So I put it across the roof too. But it goes away soon because the birds eats it off the surfaces. So I turned to putting olive oil on the post. That works beautifully! Of course, when it rains you have to reapply (we've had a lot lately) & that can be daunting. But Worth It because it is SO Satisfying & Funny to see them sliding down the pole and looking SHOCKED!

Glad you liked the ideas and find them useful! We're not always that green or sadly that luscious in blooms (I took the liberty of picking nice photos of the roses), but I find ways of enjoying the garden however it looks at the time. I do love the more positive euphemisms for cheap and lazy - affordable (fragrancenutter), ingenuity (Patty) and effective (Kes). You are very kind with your comments - gorgeous (Sheila), a feast for the eyes (Ingrid), and the look I'm actually deliberately going for, a jungly rosey garden (Melissa). My word for it is rose chaos, and it's a way of making lazy sound sort of deliberate. I agree that bamboo canes are useful in many ways around the garden, and I just put them to use today as I was stringing chicken wire around the base of the neighbor's black metal fence to keep rabbits from going through the 4" slats. I wanted a lazy way to hold the chicken wire up close to the black fence, and I happened to have saved the 2' lengths of bamboo canes that Heirloom puts in their roses to protect the canes. If you thread a bamboo cane through chicken wire and stick it in the ground, it holds it pretty darned upright and sturdy without looking too artificial. I also used more of the green fencing around the base of the big aluminum cage with bird netting around my blueberry bushes. I've been fighting a bunny-bird conspiracy, where the bunnies gnaw through the bird netting and eat the berries they can reach, then let the birds in to get the rest. Now the netting is zip-tied to the green fencing 3' off the ground and hopefully that'll break up the cabal. I'd promised a photo of bending down a one-cane wonder with the green fencing. Here are two roses that have a 4' lone cane sticking up that was in the way anyway, but should put out some nice laterals once bent to the side. This one is High Voltage, with one large cane stretched off to the left and tucked into the fence. And here's Die Welt with one even larger solo cane tucked off at a distance from the fence, that is already starting to think about putting out laterals: Oh and Dame des Chenonceau is indeed 6' or better even in zone 5. She usually has surviving cane and she really does want to be big. Don't make the same mistake I did - give her room! She's definitely worth it and is probably in my top 20 roses, maybe top 10 on a good day. Do keep sharing your ideas as well! Cynthia