If not, what do you grow your climbing roses on?

It was a lot harder than I expected to find roses that could handle the conditions. I'm still looking for a rose for the west side of the arbor. Quadra has engulfed the east side, and I'm not sure that two of those are a good idea.

The original plan was the arbor was the entryway to a garden path perpendicular to the main walkway to the back door. That walkway is bordered by a 4 ft bed, and that isn't nearly enough space for Quadra.

The obelisk with Captain Samuel Holland is more satisfactory since CSH isn't nearly the thug Quadra is.

Something else to keep in mind is that I don't know where you find a high quality arbor these days that doesn't cost a fortune. I wouldn't want to have to look at the DIY versions all winter.

Good morning - Sorry, if I was slow to respond, I haven’t received any notifications that there were replies.

Mad Gallica - So you have a trellis/arbor? facing south and have Quadra on the East side of it? And tried a few things on the West side that didn’t work out?

I guess the arbors I have seen that look the best, usually have something growing up on one side with a very full top that is overflowing. So I might not expect to grow on both sides?

I am planning an arbor for the entry to my garden too.

I love obelisks. Yes, the arbors do cost a fortune, but we are replacing a fence and a gate and it’s costing a fortune any way. [g]

I'd love to see a photo of your Quadra.

Erasmus - I know the price increases are tough to take.

Your friend has some talent to be able to build a curved top arbor and the bird house etc!

Our fence is falling down and has to be replaced. We called the fence company that originally installed it and they still had a record of it and our cedar stockade fence has been in place 36 years! We were shocked. I’m not good with remembering time, so I was guessing maybe 20 years. I guess we got our money out of it.

We asked for a new quote - they wanted $10,000. For ONE lot line of the same fence. Thirteen panels, straight line, level lot. We did ask for an 8ft fence, so I’m sure that increased the cost, but - still. We installed the other lot line 4 years ago and didn’t do this lot line because on the other side of the fence the neighbor has extensive patches of poison ivy along the fence. We didn’t want to take the time to resolve that. Now of course we wish we had. That cost us about half of that, including a very nice gate and higher grade wood. But we had to shop around and hire our own installer.

We still have to replace this fence before the dog gets loose in their poison ivy. The fence is leaning badly in places after this winter and missing a few pickets, so we can’t wait any longer thinking prices could come down.

So we are going to go the way we did the last time with the same company who provided the fence panels and a different installer.

We also have to replace a gate and a 2 panel section that now has my climbing roses on it. So I’m considering putting some kind of arbor over the gate there, since I’ll be keeping the roses on that connecting section.

I’m sure I’ve probably posted these photos before, but for context… the second photo shows the position of the gate and where the arbor would go. New Dawn/Penelope/Aloha are on the fence with one Clematis and a Honeysuckle.

I'm also trying to figure out how to prune this area back to make room to install the new fence and gate if anyone has any suggestions.

I have another rose out front that was supposed to be a shrub rose but has decided to grow 10ft+ so I'm planning to use an obelisk there.

I am looking for photos of what I might want this week - I found a couple of things but the one I like the best would cost the most and I'm feeling lukewarm about the other but it makes more sense. I've ruled some out for looking a little more formal than my garden is.

This appeals to me with a little reduction of detail and minus the small side fence sections. But I'd assume this would be the most expensive to do. And while I thought I'd rather leave it natural, this tempts me to want to add the stain and paint. Not necessarily that color.

This is for sale on Amazon but it's Vinyl! And to me, this is too formal for my garden.

Something like this seems more sensible. Especially in view of the fact I'd like to avoid painting anything and it is more rustic. I'd place a gate between the posts.

Any thoughts?

I meant to say Wayfair, not Wayside as a place with a lot of mail order arbors.

I like your ideas for a rustic arbor. When you make a wooden arbor I think it makes them look better when you cut the top ends at an angle, like your last picture. I like your rose pictures with honeysuckle. I like the gate on your first arbor picture. I am not sure how curved pieces of wood are done but no doubt there's a youtube video about it. My husband attempts a lot of projects because youtube videos are so helpful.

I bought a vinyl arbor at Lowe's and while I really like the design of it I am not thrilled with vinyl. It gets algae on it which has to be cleaned off. I don't know why vinyl is algae prone. My garden is fairly wild and I don't find the formal shape of the vinyl arbor incongruous but I do love rustic arbors, especially those made out of sticks or small tree trunks. You are wise to discern what goes with your style of garden. An entryway and something vertical makes a garden more inviting and nurturing I think. It'll be great I bet.

My rose friend is a carpenter by trade and has built two beautiful houses for his family by hand.

We built our own arbor for our narrow side yard gate. It worked out well. I like your inspiration photos and I think you'll come up with something great for your space. I hope you share photos after!

I have a lot of photos on the old computer. This is the best I have right now. Quadra goes about halfway over the arch.

Erasmus - I haven’t tried Wayfair yet, I’ll have to take a look.

I know that I’ve seen rustic arbors that I like and some I don’t and I’ll have to notice if the angled cuts on the top end boards is the difference.

I’ve been discovering YouTube videos lately as well. There seems to be no end to the topics they cover. I keep saying I am going to try more projects too.

Being a carpenter and able to build an entire home seems almost like magic to me…lol. Quite a blessing to be that talented.

Librarian - That was quite ambitious of you to build your own arbor. You must get a lot of satisfaction in that. You did a good job, it just fits that space. Very pretty rose, what variety is that? Yes, I’ll post some photos when we finish.

MadGallica - That Quadra is such a pretty dark red color, I love it!

Prairiemoon I very much liked the last picture you showed!

The Quadra color is beautiful...I bought one last year from Hortico and it is in the ground doing fine. I hope it won't get too big.

My friend, the carpenter, sold one house he built and a large , beautiful rose garden with it. The week they closed on the deal he found out he had stage 4 throat cancer. They moved into an apartment and after radiation and chemo, actually one week after his last chemo treatment he started work on his new house in the middle of January in a month full of freezing rain. He wanted to be sure his family had a home. It is a small but very well thought out house with a rustic feeling but it's luxurious at the same time with so many beautiful details. When you go in the ceiling is so high it has a feeling of spaciousness. He designed it himself and he's artistic. Anyway I just think of him as heroic, in his care of his family, his courage, and determination, and how well he does things. And wonderfully, he beat cancer. And has a beautiful new rose garden. It's inspirational to me! His name is Dickie. Here is a seedling he gave me which I named Dickie's Rose. I think his faith has given him strength and hope.

I didn't mean to hijack your thread but I had to tell the rest of the story.

Thanks, Prariemoon. I should make sure my husband gets the credit for doing pretty much all the work in buildingbuildingthe arbor.

The rose is Wollerton Old Hall.

I’ve got 2 in my garden and they can be really beautiful and worthwhile. One has Mel’s Heritage and it’s worked perfectly. The trick is to get a rose that will be vigorous enough to get up and over the top, and fill out. If the rose only grows up the side, I feel it’s kind of a waste. I’d also suggest a self cleaning rose, because getting up on a ladder to regularly deadhead would be a chore. I usually do one big cleanup and pruning on Mel in the spring and then he’s left to his own devices.

Erasmus, that’s a beautiful story and your garden looks stunning as always.

I think a rose on one side of an arbor can look really pretty too.

Erasmus - your friend is very talented. :) :) I love everything he made!! Oh, that's a lovely story about Dickie and I'm so glad that he survived. :) :) Now that's a man...taking care of his family. And that rose you named after him is really beautiful!

Prairiemoon - my goodness...sounds really expensive...but necessary. Oooh...I love the green one the best! I'd hate to repaint it though.

Erasmus, that is a very inspirational story about your friend Dickie. I agree with you, his efforts to provide for his family are heroic and isn’t it just the cherry on top that he beat the cancer. Thanks for sharing that story, and not a hijack at all! And I agree with RoseCanadian, ‘Dickie’ is a very pretty rose!

Librarian, I always have to give my husband a very large portion of the credit for all the work he does in every part of our garden, so I know how you feel. That was a big project for him to take on. I looked up Wollerton Old Hall and is it as fragrant as they claim?

Chris, ‘Mel’s Heritage’ is a Paul Barden rose? I’ve never had one. You make a great point about getting a vigorous rose to get over the top and fill out. Pretty sure I’m going to keep the roses I have. ‘New Dawn’ should be vigorous enough to get to the top and then some. I got mine after seeing it on a very large arbor on the P.Allen Smith garden. Not that I ever hope to see mine look that good, [g] but at least I know the rose has potential. And it is a once bloomer for me.

Last year I did have difficulty deadheading all of it because it was not possible to get the ladder close enough to reach the top without leaning over the rose. No way was I going to do that. I had visions of falling into the middle of the whole thing! Lol

RoseCanadian - I know from experience that we are not good at keeping up painting and I’d rather have a wood aging naturally, then looking at peeling paint. And with a climber, I’d think it would be hard to get access to paint it? You go to a lot of work I assume to train the rose to the arbor and what would you do to paint? Prune it all the way off the arbor?

I love the green arbor, but they seem to be growing an annual vine on the very top and all the painted surfaces have easy access to paint, so that makes sense.

I'm glad for those who can hear the strength and love in Dickie's story. Someday I'd like to work on trying to get some good pictures of his garden and house, if he wouldn't mind. He never posts here but I think he likes to learn here and appreciates the people here.

Chris, the pics I posted above are of his garden, not mine. I have some arbors. Some of my climbers declined and I lost two to RRD. Things are not necessarily permanent in a garden!

One thing I found about outdoor painted objects is that Lowe's Duramax exterior paint is well worth the money as it hasn't peeled here in many years of use. I hate dealing with peely paint too so really appreciate the Duramax. I like the grey aged look of natural wood or stained wood as well. For me paint has been a good wood preservative.

Prariemoon. WOH is very fragrant. It's in the myrrh family of fragrance so some people don't like it but II love it. To me it smells an old fashioned candy....aa mix of anise/licorice, caramel/butterscotch and a hint of lilac. As it ages, there's some grapefruit scent too.

It self cleans and where I didn't deadhead at the top ( it's 10ft tall) big orange hips grew. It did get some black spot in our super wet cold early summer last year but it kept blooming.

Erasmus, what a wonderful story of Dickies love for his family and his beautiful faith. So happy that he beat cancer and gifted you susuch a lovely memory rose.

Erasmus, that’s exactly what I heard in your story. Love and strength and faith.

I didn’t realize the photos you posted before were of Dickie’s garden. He has a nice collection of roses and all the projects really add to it.

Sorry that you lost two climbers. But - now you have a chance to bring a new rose home!

Thanks for the tip on Lowe’s exterior paint. You are right of course, paint on wood makes a good preservative and with that kind of a recommendation it’s an option to consider.

Librarian, that sounds like a very interesting scent! The blooms give a very full appearance, so pretty!

Librarian - I love your WOH....so lovely. :)

That's a beautiful rose, Librarian.

Those pics of Dickie's garden are his old garden. It was pretty big, lots of big, healthy plants in it....a huge Sombreuil climbing from house to daughter's Victorian play house. Huge New Dawns along his wrap around porch. Many Austins. His new garden and house are set in woods so he had to remove some big trees . Uses rocks to edge his garden, and he has plenty of other interesting plants so it's not a monoculture.

Prairiemoon, my neighbor built her own rustic arbor on the cheap out of 2 old wooden ladders by attaching the feet to rebar, burying those, and tying some thick twigs/small branches over the top rung of both ladders. It’s beautifully rustic and so far has held up just great (about 5 years). She’s a small woman who did it by herself. It has a simple gate. Could something like that work for you?

Mrykbee - Constructing something myself would be a stretch, even just finding the materials to do it with. We did have a windy winter with a number of branches on the ground from surrounding trees, but nothing so attractive that I could use it in a project like that. I am always envious of people who accomplish that kind of solution.

Plus, I am now looking at something that will be very sturdy, since New Dawn rose that I am growing there, is a monster to grow on anything. Big heavy canes wtih lots of thorns. I saw an arbor my husband and I really liked that was very rustice but decided it was just not going to hold up the roses I want to grow on it, so we're still narrowing down our choices.

Thanks for the idea. If I have another area with an opportunity for an arbor and the next time I see an old ladder or two, I'm going to remember that!