Among all known groups of roses, the most picturesque are climbing roses. They bloom profusely, while forming beautiful and dense inflorescence. They are divided by subgroups, but there is no clear boundary between them. Therefore, spring pruning of climbing roses can be done in different ways.
Climbing roses want a lot of space. To get an attractive rose, it is necessary to form it in a horizontal space, while maintaining a balanced plant shape. Vertical stalks of climbing roses bloom a little, and on horizontal stalks flowers appear along their entire length.
We conditionally divide climbing roses into some groups.
In the first we will include roses with long shoots 3-4 m long and small flowers collected in large inflorescences. They bloom once for 25-35 days along the entire length of the wintered shoots.
Before planting such a rose, you should shorten the roots and cut the branches to a height of 25-35 cm. In this way, you can stimulate a strong growth of young shoots. One problem, the roses in the first year rarely bloom.
On the left picture is a seedling prepared for planting. On the right is spring, and the formation of young branches began.
Pruning roses for the second and subsequent years
On the second, and all subsequent years, young shoots are preserved for the entire length. In the spring it is necessary to trim the tops only in varieties that grow rapidly. The main pruning of roses in this group is carried out immediately after flowering. All faded pruned from the base to the ring. They try to leave on the bush 3-5 branches of the last year and the same number of young shoots. Pruning of faded shoots to the level of the appearance of new ones stimulates the flowering of young branches in the next season. It is desirable to tie up young branches horizontally – then lateral growths will form on them, which will bloom next year. If this year your rose has produced few young shoots of replacement, leave a couple of two-year-olds. Cut them to a height of about 30 cm. And shorten the lateral growths to 2-3 buds from their base after they finish blooming.
Strongly running creeping roses that have not been pruned for many years can easily turn into a tangled mass of shoots growing poorly and poorly flowering. In addition, such plants due to poor air circulation are much more often affected by diseases and pests. The easiest way to get rid of such a problem is to remove such a bush of climbing roses completely. But it makes sense to reanimate the plant or rejuvenate it. By this is meant a short or strong pruning, which should stimulate the active growth of new powerful shoots.
Many climbing roses can grow to incredible sizes. Such varieties are cut once for 7-10 years at a height of 50-75 cm from ground level. Cut off parts of the plant will replace the young growth.
So, this group of climbing roses are plants adapted to climb trees, hedges and other supports. Therefore, spring pruning of climbing roses requires a careful approach.
