The Basic Principles Of Pruning
When pruning any rose, start by removing any stems that have gone bad or aren't growing in the right direction for the plant. The best way to remember this is DDD WW — Dead, Diseased and Damaged wood, or any wood that is Weak or Wayward. Removing this first gives you a much clearer idea of the state of the plant before you shape it.
When should you prune your climbing roses?
Our Rosarians recommend pruning climbing and rambling roses in November and December, before they have started to shoot any new growth. You can do it later in the winter if needed — you might just chop off some of that new growth.
How To Prune A Young Climbing Rose
(The First 2-3 Years)
Climbing roses need to be trained horizontally along walls, fences, arches or other structures to grow a fuller plant. To help with this, limit pruning for the first 2–3 years the rose is in the ground, or until it has grown across your wall or desired structure.
As you prune during those first couple of years, cut off any stems that are growing away from the structure and can't be trained in, so they don't get unruly and out of hand. You may also need to do some staggered pruning as it grows.
Once the plant is well established on your wall or structure, you can cut it back more drastically to suit the shape and size you want. If the plant is getting congested, cut any older or weaker stems back to the base of the plant.
How To Prune An Established Climbing Rose
Once your climbing rose has been in the ground for a few years and is well established on your wall or structure, you can cut it back more drastically to suit the shape and size you want.
If the plant is getting congested, cut any older or weaker stems back to the base of the plant, so that the plant can put it's energy into the stronger growth. Just make sure you position the remaining stems horizontally, so new growth can shoot up out of them.
If you find that all of your stems are the same length, you will need to do some staggered pruning.
What Is Staggered Pruning?
Staggered pruning is where you cut the rose's stems to varying heights, so that next summer the flowers bloom at a range of heights rather than all in one cluster.
We do this because the flowers on a climbing rose only grow on the end of a stem, so if left to their own devices, all of the stems will grow to a similar height and all of the flowers will cluster at the top of the plant. Staggering the length of the stems spreads the flowers out across the plant instead.
ROSARIAN TOP TIP
You shouldn't need to stagger your pruning every year — only every five years or so, once the flowers start to look clustered or unruly. In the meantime, cut the stems back by around a third each year.
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