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The charming buds of climbing roses are becoming more and more popular, decorating the walls of houses with a bright carpet, high fences, and vertical supports throughout the summer season. But you need to know how to care for and how to cut curly roses for the winter.
Even the wonderful flowering of climbing roses can be ruined by illiterate care - improper bush formation or confused and dried shoots. Therefore, pruning is one of the most important activities in the care of roses.
Characteristics of climbing roses
Despite the growing popularity, climbing roses still do not have a single classification. There are two known varieties.
Characteristics of Climber roses:
- grow up to 3.5 m;
- can bloom for the second time in a season;
- flowers are rather large in size - more than 4 cm, collected in inflorescences.
Rambler roses:
- they are the longest, they can reach 10-15 m;
- have long and thin stems;
- bloom only once, but have a long flowering period - up to 40 days;
- form many simple or double small-flowered inflorescences with a flower diameter of up to 2.5 cm;
- bushes give abundant flowering;
- differ in frost resistance.
Pruning
The climbing rose should be pruned in the fall, when its flowering ends. Pruning is essential for the development of a healthy shrub that can provide lush and long-lasting flowering for the next year. When pruning climbing roses, old and damaged stems are removed to make room for young shoots to grow. Two-year-old shoots are also left on the bushes, since the main number of inflorescences will be concentrated on them.
The method of pruning climbing roses depends on the variety. Rambler roses begin to bloom the next year after being planted on last year's shoots. These shoots do not bloom a second time, but interfere with the growth and flowering of new ones. Therefore, they are pruned back in the summer, immediately after flowering. Pruning is carried out at the very base of the shoot, so that from three to ten new ones grow to replace the remote ones. They will give bloom to the climbing rose next year.
Long strings of re-flowering Climber varieties grow many side shoots, which give inflorescences. The main shoots can grow for five years and are already weakening by the end of this period. Therefore, long lashes by the end of the fourth year should be cut at the base. They will be replaced by new young shoots. On bushes of climbing roses there will always be up to seven main shoots and two to three young, annual ones.
When pruning, it is necessary to remove not only the old, four-year-old lashes, but also some of the new shoots that shade the bush and prevent its free development. These young shoots are pruned at the base. Pruning last year's shoots should be done carefully, removing only the tops with unformed buds.
In the fall during preparation for wintering, roses should be pruned very carefully, slightly shortening the stems that have grown too long and removing excess shoots growing inside the bush. At the same time, already worn-out and dried or damaged shoots and flowers are removed. Short pruning of climbing rose bushes at this time will cause many shoots to appear that will not bloom.
Not only their flowering, but also their development depends on the correct pruning of climbing roses. A delay in pruning or an incorrect procedure will lead to a weakening of the plant and a decrease in its flowering. It will not be as abundant and long-lasting. Pruning the bushes professionally will ensure their rich flowering.
Despite these recommendations, some varieties of climbing roses take 3-4 years to develop enough mass for full bloom.Such varieties bloom for years without pruning old shoots, which woody at the very base. Only diseased or dead branches are cut. Therefore, each variety requires individual pruning.
Procedure tips
There are several rules, the observance of which will allow for successful pruning:
- it should be carried out in dry, calm weather;
- the tools used in the work must be thoroughly disinfected and sharpened;
- thick lignified stems are best cut with a hacksaw;
- the shoot is cut to healthy wood;
- the cut is performed above the external kidney, at a distance of 0.5 cm from it;
- it should be inclined so that moisture does not accumulate on it;
- all sections must be treated with garden varnish or other disinfectant;
- pruning should maintain the correct proportions of the bush, in which the volume of the aboveground part of the plant is equal to the volume of the root system.
Pruning climbing roses for wintering can be seen in the video:
Garter
In caring for climbing roses, it is important to tie them correctly. When pruning, it is necessary to simultaneously form the correct direction of the main shoots.
- If you tie up the shoots only vertically, over time, lateral shoots on which inflorescences appear on them will cease to grow. Flowers and leaves will be collected only at the very end of the shoot, exposing a bare stem with thorns. The horizontal tie stimulates the plant to grow side shoots that stretch upward. And their ends are hung with inflorescences of wonderful flowers.
- You can also fan the shoots out to the sides and up, giving them ample space to sprout and bloom.
- If the bush grows near the pillar, you can direct the shoots in a spiral.
- Overgrown bushes need to periodically replace old shoots with young ones. Long shoots need a support to support them.
Ways to remove curly roses from a support
When growing climbing roses in temperate climates, the main problem is their shelter for the winter - the difficulty lies in removing the shoots from the supports. In the spring you have to pick them up and tie them up again. Some guidelines will help make this job easier.
For cultivation, you can choose varieties that do not have thorns, for example, Veilchenblau, Zephirine Drouhin. Their cover and garter are much easier to perform.
- If curly roses grow near the arch, you can leave an allowance at the base of the lash, which will allow you to pull the entire support out of the ground and, without removing the flowers from it, lay it on a dry mat. In the spring, the support easily rises with the shoot and is strengthened in its place.
- There is another option - you need to tie the whips to the removable lattice. It can be easily hung on any support, and removed in autumn and, without unraveling the whip, to cover the roses for the winter.
- Some gardeners, when hiding roses, undermine the bush a little to make it easier to tilt it.
Rambler cultivars tolerate wintering much better, but their thin shoots are difficult to untangle when removed from a support. Therefore, it is better to direct them in a spiral around the support in one direction - then it will be easier to remove.
Shelter of climbing roses for the winter
Roses are covered for the winter after the onset of constant frosts with a temperature of minus 5-7 degrees. Before covering, the bushes must be treated with copper sulfate. It is necessary to remove from the plants the tops of the shoots with the remaining buds and all the foliage. A good covering material is spruce branches. The lashes removed from the supports should be laid on spruce branches or a dry bedding of leaves and covered with burlap, and covered with covering material on top.
In order for the plants to breathe, it is better to lay the insulation on a reliable frame made of metal rods. Then the air inside the shelter will always be dry, and the strong frame will protect the roses from the pressure of the snow cover.
During thaws, sap flow may begin again in the shoots. When the temperature drops, this juice can freeze and lead to cracks.With a new rise in temperature through these cracks, it is possible for pathogens to penetrate into the plant. If it is dry under the shelter, the juice that stands out will dry out quickly, the cracks will heal, and the roses will not die.
With proper care, curly roses will be a wonderful decoration for decorative garden compositions, delighting with their bright beauty throughout the season.
