Roses in the Garden

2 parent questions ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • Caring for espaliered roses

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    Nov 8, 2023

    We have 5 espalier rose bushes that need pruning. Does anyone have a trusted gardner who knows how to take care of roses and is available? 

    Nov 8, 2023

    if the espalier shape is in relatively good condition (meaning the majority of the tree is growing out horizontally and not vertically) and you already have the wires/stakes in, simple maintenance is easy enough to do on your own.  I recommend looking up Monty Don/Gardeners' World videos on how to train and maintain espalier trees.  It is a UK gardening program and they have a very helpful website but also many video clips on You Tube.  The key thing to remember is that cuts in summer (too late this year) will stunt growth, and cuts in winter (too early right now) will likely stimulate it.  So if a branch is not properly trained and growing up, the best time to tackle may be in the summer.  Good luck! 

    Nov 15, 2023

  • Help! Climbing Roses

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    Oct 30, 2020

    Hi all,

    I'm a new gardener and have 4 lovely climbing roses (2 sally holmes and 2 iceberg) one planted at the base of each post of a pergola, and they are about 9 months old. They are growing a lot, but I have no idea how to train them properly (zig zag, wrap around, straight up?) or prune them (they have canes sprouting all directions, including away from the post, do I cut those?). I'm at a total loss and right now they are just flopping around looking terrible. 

    Help! Does anyone have advice they're willing to share or recommendation for someone who can help me get them going in the right direction?

    Oct 30, 2020

    I strongly advise searching for video clips of Monty Don (whether via his own websites, online columns, or on Gardeners' World, a BBC2 program that he hosts).  He addresses how to tackle and train climbing roses regularly, although usually on walls.  Good luck!   

    Nov 4, 2020

    Roses are tough and forgiving, so you can relax.  There are many guides to rose pruning online.  I use the American Horticultural Society pruning and training book, but there are others.

    The one caveat is that most guides are written for folks with hard winters, where the plants go fully dormant.  I prune roses some all year long, to get rid of problem growth and to control size. In January, even though there are still some leaves, I do the major winter pruning and clean-up.  This includes removing those last few leaves, raking the area, and mulching to reduce carry-over of fungi.

    The roses will be healthier if they have an open structure, so prune out crowded growth crossing branches, and growth that goes through the middle of the plant. (That is, if a twig on the left side crosses over to the right, cut it out.)  Prune out weak or unhealthy growth. When removing side growth, make the cut just past the branch collar (see online for images).  When shortening branch ("heading back"), make the cut just past a healthy bud -- again, look online for pictures.  When removing spent blossoms, cut to just above an outward-facing 5-leaflet leaf.

    As for how to shape the plant around the structure, look around at folks' gardens, go the Berkeley and Oakland Rose Gardens, look online, and see what appeals to you.  The choice here would combine your taste and the plants' ability to cooperate.  And if you don't like the result, you can cut the bushes back quite hard and start over just fine.  They really are quite tough.

    Nov 4, 2020

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Climbing rose needs pruning

April 2012

I have a beautiful climbing rose that has grown over an arbor and needs trimming. I have tried it, but can't get high enough to give it the full treatment it needs. Any recommendation of someone who would do a single, small job like this, but that also knows what they are doing! ak

Hello, Lindsey Jones just came to do some pruning--she was skillful, prompt and moderately priced: linzonia at yahoo dot com. When she was here she happened to mention she'd just been cutting back someone's climbing roses. Lissa

I don't have anyone to recommend but I wanted to mention that you should probably not prune your climbing rose right now -- either wait until after it has bloomed or prune it next winter when it's dormant. A lot of climbing roses only have one big bloom per year, like the beautiful pink Cecile Brunner rose that you see all over Berkeley in May. If you prune it right now, you wipe out all the buds that are just starting to form. If yours is an ever-blooming variety I think it would be OK to prune it now if you really need to, though you might have to wait longer to see roses on it this year. There is a lot of good info via google about pruning climbing roses. Maybe if you just had a step-ladder you would enjoy doing it yourself? 

Gardener Needed To Take Care Of Roses

March 2012

I am planting our garden where there was nothing when we bought our fixer-upper, and my dream is to have tons of roses. I had some planted last year but now learned that they are way too close to a wall they are supposed to cover, and way too close to each other. They aren't doing very well and I have never had a garden, let alone roses and don't know how to fix the situation. If you know of a gardener who either specializes in roses or is REALLY good with them PLEASE let me know. Thanks so much!! Rose Lover

I recommend Angel Mendoza who has worked for me for a year. He is frm Guatemala and has experience with farming. He has maintained my yard, and he does a beautiful job. Also he is a very trustworthy person and he is bright speaks english well. His cell is 510 478-5729. paul