How to Grow Colorful, Fragrant Climbing Roses

Climbing roses can enhance your patio space.

It doesn't matter if you're a pro at growing roses or new to the field, something about a climbing rose adds a crowning touch to your yard's landscaping. The good thing about climbing roses if you are a beginner is, they are the easiest roses to grow. With a few tips and understanding on how to grow them, you can enjoy climbing roses for years.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Fertilizer
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Plan a location for climbing roses. Because they can be trained vertically or horizontally, you can plant them to fill empty places in your landscaping, along a long wall or fence. Look for a spot with full sunshine, although they can do well in partial shade. The more shade there is, the fewer blooms and more leggy the plant will be.

2. Plant at intervals of six to eight feet. You can plant at four feet apart if you want a large number of roses, but it could be labor intensive to keep them looking like you want them when they're that close together.

3. Dig a hole approximately 2 feet deep by 2 feet wide. Rose roots perform better without compact, solid soil surrounding them. Fill the bottom with about 6 inches of natural fertilizer such as seasoned cow manure or a combination of regular fertilizer and natural fertilizer. Back fill a thin layer of soil over the fertilizer, as you don't want the roots directly touching it at your initial planting.

4. Take half of the soil you dug up and mix it 50-50 with compost or peat moss. Fill the hole back up and place the rose in the center of it. Mound the soil up about 3 inches to compensate for the inevitable settling of the soil.

5. Give the climbing rose a good watering right away. Roses respond well to water, and giving them up to two inches a week per plant does them good. Water at the base of the plant. You don't want them to have wet leaves, especially at night.

6. Shape the rose in the spring by pruning canes that don't look good or are dead. Keep as many as eight canes and remove others so the plant can attain new growth. After four years, remove the two oldest canes from your climbing rose.

References

• Colorado State University Cooperative Extension: Climbing Roses
• Washington State University Spokane County Extension: Climbing Roses