Advice on roses

[Weepingwillows12]

I have a north west facing wall which is about 1.5m wide and single storey (basically where the garage sticks out the front of the house). I really love roses and want to try a climbing one there.

All the guides suggest they grow much bigger than my space. Can you just keep pruning so it fits the space? I have vague recollections of Mobty saying about flowers only on new growth and pruning seems complicated so not sure if it will work.

Also any tips on good roses for north facing and small space?

If you get a climbing rose you can pretty much prune it anywhere!

Roses are very difficult to kill so lop away!!

Im so glad to read that - I have just planted a climbing rose with the intention of training it up a pole into a sort of weeping standard. It will (hopefully) be kept considerably smaller than its potential spread...

Try "Mme Alfred Carriere" . I have her on a shady fence and she does very well. Pale creamy pink flowers with a gorgeous scent every year...and then I chop her back every autumn to fence height.

I would go on the David Austen website and find a climber that likes shade. There’ll be information on how big each one is.
But yes, as climbers flower on new growth, you’ll need to cut it back every year anyway.

We have a David Austin climber called "spirit of freedom" that does very well on a wall that only gets sun 8-12. Pruning climbers is easy, you will need to put wires up on the wall, when long shoots grow tie them horizontally to the wires and each February prune back to this framework. (Flowers grow at the end of shoots, so by making them horizontal, it sends up lots of side shoots with flowers). Generous gardner is another lovely DA one.

But yes, as climbers flower on new growth, you’ll need to cut it back every year anyway. Well, not necessarily, they'll still put out new growth even if you don't prune them. It's just that you prune them to stimulate more new growth and hence more flowers. And, of course, to keep them tidy.

I'm not trying to nitpick - it's just that a lot of new gardeners get very worried about pruning, feeling that if they don't do it, or they do it badly, that they'll kill the plant. But plants have an inherent desire to live, so even with pruning there's room for mistakes.

MereDintofPandiculation true, and good advice.

Thank you! I love roses but have only been brave enough for patio roses so far. Off to shop now.

I have a Wollerton Old Hall climbing rose from DA on a north facing wall that's doing well. It gets sun from morning until noon. And the scent is amazing!

www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/products/wollerton-old-hall