I have a really old climbing rose with basically one trunk. It has a couple of stems from the top (above head height). I know now’s not the right time to chop it, but I’m wondering what to do now or in spring? It looks a complete mess next to the front of my house.
Any advice?
by hedgeycat
1 Comment
It looks pretty ancient, and roses don’t last forever, so if you are going to do anything, the risk is that you lose the plant altogether. Roses put out new growth from old wood, but the older the wood, the less inclined the rose is to oblige. So the harder you cut it back, the more likely the rose is to die. It is hard to see from the picture, but if you can leave one old branch with new growth on it substantially alone (only prune the new growth) and cut the other one back very hard you may get lucky and either get new growth from the hard prune or a new shoot from lower down (good as long as it is not a sucker). If neither happens you can either leave it alone or double down and chop branch number 2.
If you are nervous about pruning too hard, you can also give the rose a really good top dressing of well rotted compost/manure. An increase in longer term nutrients will often rejunevate an old plant and you may see fresh growth lower down.