Has anybody grown a Gertrude Jekyll rose over an obelisk?

[CatM1nt]

Obelisk I’m buying and fits my bed is 1.5 metres GJ apparently grows to 2.5 would that matter? Not done this before.

You can just prune it if it gets too big - it will only grow as big as you let it! My favourite DA rose - beautiful and smells amazing!

Do you think it would cope with an obelisk or do they prefer fences?

Either would be absolutely fine. It is very thorny though so get some gloves!

I've grown one of these over an obelisk and it was beautiful, I could smell it half way down the garden! It's my favourite too @laikalooo Just keep on top of the pruning and you'll be fine (David Austin's website has lots of info on how and when to do this if you're new to it). They're a little bit prone to black spot, so just keep an eye out for that too.

How do you avoid and treat black spot?

I’ve been really lucky and no black spot yet... I’m about to build a new archway and so excited about choosing a couple of new DA climbers. What is it about roses!?!

@CatM1nt you can avoid blackspot by making sure the plant has good airflow around it (which you'll be helping to encourage if you're pruning it regularly anyway). Apparently if your rose is getting lots of sun and not in an overly damp location that will help too.