Garden

[Dazlin]

Just planted my new Coral Dawn climber.   It's already flowering, and doing nicely.   

I have it along my driveway fencing, and I'm wondering if I can train it to grow along the fence in opposite directions?  That way I can get coverage going up towards the house, and the other half away from the house.   This is my first climber, so I have no idea how the canes are to handle.  Right now, although it's flowering, it's about 2 feet tall, with very thin, flexible canes.   Thanks for advice!

[fthunt]

No rose expert here - but be aware that the plant is going to follow and/or lean towards the sun.  I would guess you need two plants - one for right - one for left; but I would think - - to get plant to go opposite of the warm sun, it would have to be tied down to the fence until it gets established.  I will be interested in answers you get from your posting.

[TwiliteBeach]

You can train a climbing rose although the canes will be stiffer than a vine, say. My best suggestion is to Google "train a climbing rose" and click on "images" in Google. Also free articles. Basically a climbing rose will have main canes that you want to guide and bend gently to the direction you want flowers. An old adage for climbing roses is "first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap". This is a reference to a rose establishing itself.

"In general" you try to get the main canes to kind of arch in a fan shape, or over a fence, or a trellis. That is because as the main canes arch, secondary canes will form that put out more flowers. A first year climber may behave a lot like a "regular" rose, and the "climbing" canes may not get very tall at all. This is fine as the rose is establishing itself - just give good care (roses are heavy feeders). 

As you can, gently tie the main canes where you want them to go, as the rose grows (if it grows enough the first year). The idea is to get those main canes to lengthen and arch so secondary shoots form with the flowers (otherwise you just get a big long stem with some flowers on top). As time goes by, most of the pruning will be done on the secondary shoots, while the arched canes form a kind of support structure. Uusally the main canes are not pruned and only removed at the base when old and very woody (that takes a few years).

Unless your rose really takes off this year - it might, depending, for the first year you might be able to get away with just treating it like a tall rose. Start training as you have enough cane to work with.

E.g. a first year climber in my area is usually pretty easy, as the canes don't take off too fast. But they might. I start attaching the canes (I use gardening tape or old panty hose strips) to my fence when there is enough length to work with, in an arched shape. Different roses have more flexible main canes than others, and as canes age they can get stiff. Just hafta guide them as you can and sometimes the canes just do what they want. That can be pretty too.

Hope that helps but online pictures on how to train a rose I think will help. 

[JustJazzmom]

I agree with @TwiliteBeach to look at images online. The softer, flexible canes are easier to train. Once they turn woody, it’s harder to maneuver them. 

[Dazlin]

Thanks....appreciate the answers. The rose is facing the sun, so going along the fence won't be a problem.
I'm also looking into the Don Juan for another area, mainly for its larger blooms, and old rose fragrance.
Any other suggestions on what to use for soft ties that won't look obvious???

[gardenman]

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@Dazlinwrote:
Thanks....appreciate the answers. The rose is facing the sun, so going along the fence won't be a problem.
I'm also looking into the Don Juan for another area, mainly for its larger blooms, and old rose fragrance.
Any other suggestions on what to use for soft ties that won't look obvious???

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You can get green twine that will blend into the foliage nicely. When tying the stems, use loosely tied loops so the ties don't strangle the branches as the branches grow. You don't have to lock them into a precise location, just guide them where you want them to go.

You might want to Google "espalier" as that's essentially what you're trying to achieve. Espalier is typically done with fruiting trees, but the same principles apply to what you're hoping to do. If you follow the directions for espaliering a fruit tree and apply it to your rose, you should get the results you desire. Both develop woody stems as they mature, so the same basic principles apply.

[gardenman]

Just as an aside, in addition to "espalier" if you Google "tree shaping" and look at some of the images of things people have created, it may blow your mind. One guy (Peter Cook) has created a small village of living tree people, there are chairs that have been formed from living trees. All kinds of weirdly shaped trees have been formed. I tend to think of it as tree torture, but it is an art form also. By bending, forming, binding young growth, properly motivated tree torturers can make one (often multiple) trees into pretty much anything. If you want a conversation piece in your garden that's different from what everyone else is doing, tree shaping may be for you.

[Dazlin]

Wonderful sites on espalier...always learning something new ...thanks a bunch!!