Out-of-control bush and pruning

2 years ago

I have a DA Bathesheba that i planted in large pot in 2019. Last year it grew like mad, but produced few blooms (I did not over fertilize). I need to prune it but don't know where to start other than the typical rose guidelines of damaged wood and crossing branches. Do I prune out the numerous — and sometimes substantial — secondary stems? Just the small tertiary stems? I have ruined climbers with pruning and I'm very gun shy. I know my space isn't ideal. The YouTube vids generally involve horizontal stems, not an option here.

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Comments (11)

dianela7analabama
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Your rose looks great for being in a pot. If you want her to climb I would not prune her much at all. Normally I just remove the super thin thin canes that make them look like spiders (the blooming laterals) if at all. Definitely would not touch any of the long and thicker growing canes yet. So maybe prine that thin tertiary stems. personally i would not prune her at all yet. I have never grown a climber in a pot like that so I hope others with more experience can advise you better.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
It's pretty hard to do any permanent damage when pruning a rose. I have cut back climbers to almost ground level and they have just come back all the more stronger for it.

Having said that, I would not recommend growing a climber in a container unless a very generously sized one.....like a half whiskey barrel. Plants that grow significant topgrowth - like climbing roses - also generate significantly large root systems. A too small container will adversely affect growth and flowering.

Here's what I'd do:
- remove all but the 5 (or so) largest and most robust canes. Get rid of everything else.
- head back the remaining canes to a manageable height
- repot into an appropriately sized container with the proper soil media. Since the plant is growing in a container in potting mix, routine fertilizing for best performance is necessary. Weekly, weakly with a full range water soluble liquid fertilizer. Or use a slow release product like Osmocote after repotting.
- provide some sort of support for the climber. Unless those major canes are trained more or less horizontally, the flowering laterals will not develop properly. No laterals = no (or very few) flowers.
Finally, it is important to remember that growing any plant in a container is vastly different from growing that same plant in the ground and different principles/methods need to be applied to expect the same level of success.
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Welcome to the forum, tbaron. I'm about 30 miles north of you, in southeast Kansas. You might want to go back and edit your registration to include your zone. Note my "z6 KS" right after my user name. Or at least always include your zone in the first sentence or so of your post. By the way--good gardening zone. That means you can grow almost any rose, especially since, with climate change, zone 6 is transitioning in places into zone 7. I think mine might actually be zone 7, or very close to it, by now. The zone number means that the rose should be cold hardy to zone 6 or higher numbered zone. Try to get all the roots out if you dig up Dr. Huey--or he will return--kinda of like Dracula always returns in the next movie! (Actually, Dr. Huey is rather attractive--if he just didn't have those other irritating habits!). Dig a hole about two feet wide and a foot deep--I'd think you'd find most of the roots that way. Perhaps in the center, directly under the rose, you might have to dig deeper if it has had time to established a strong centralized stabilizing root. And have a bag of humus/compost (from Home Depot or Wal-Mart or such place) ready and dump 1/3 or more of it in the hole and loose soil leftover. That way you will be all ready to plant a new rose when it arrives since you will have already amended the soil. At that point, all you will need to do is dig a hole, plant, and water! : ) You might want to browse some rose pictures over on the Rose Gallery--get some ideas of alternate choices. Plenty of pics posted often on this forum also. And see also the Antique Roses Forum, especially if you like the David Austin shrubs (like Munstead Wood). And feel free to ask about any roses you find appealing. Happy rosing! Kate
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
2 years ago
Could you find a different material to tie it in? The green plastic isn’t doing it any favours imo. Perhaps natural sisal or jute.
CeresMer Zone 7a NJ
2 years ago
Agreed with gardengal, remove the weak ones to get some air flowing. Are you planning for her to climb the wall? If you want blooms you still need to get the canes horizontally, otherwise it will only produce blooms on top. Start training the canes horizontally on the wall for more blooms. Also fertilizing it’s essential for pot roses
CeresMer Zone 7a NJ
2 years ago
You can also try looping the canes around

Photos from instagram
dianela7analabama
2 years ago
LOVE niff_barnes’ work!
CeresMer Zone 7a NJ
2 years ago
@dianela7analabama right? I'm so inspired by his work! I have been swirling all my roses around lol
CeresMer Zone 7a NJ
2 years ago
Here is my climbers in trainning
dianela7analabama
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Ceres yes I love her work. She is such an incredibly talented person.
Feiy (PNWZ8b/9a)
2 years ago
I like her idea. Too bad I can't train my New Dawn, Veilchenblau or Quicksilver like that. Maybe Renae or Aptos....
seasiderooftop
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Wow, @CeresMer Zone 7a NJ I didn't know Niff Barnes' work, that is really amazing! I love how her "rose sculptures" keep the roses interesting even in the dead of winter. Wonderful, thank you for sharing!

And congratulations on your own climber training, those are looking great!

Out-of-control bush and pruning

Comments (11)

dianela7analabama

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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