Pruning New Climbing Roses

Question

I am trying to train climbing rose buses onto a trellis and eventually onto a wooden fence that is becoming unsightly. How and when do I prune? The plants are about 6 inches tall and some of the stalks are beginning to wave in the breeze. Do I tie them to the trellis lightly and let them continue to grow or do I prune them to a manageable size?

Answer 1

I would tie the canes to a trellis and let them continue to grow. If some canes just will not go in the direction desired prune them back and try to train them as they put on new growth to get them to go where desired. This will likely call for some early tieing back. Sometimes with climbers one has to be aggressive with them to keep them trained. Pruning some pruners at the wrong time can take away blooms, so pruning is something I do only to get rid of dead wood that has not made it through the winter. Shaping pruning to some canes cannot be ignored but usually is just two or three canes.