Marianne's Response

Climbing rose

My rose bush has 4’ of stem before the leaves start and is 15’ tall. I would like to cut it back to 7-8’ as most of the flowers are beyond reach. What do you think?

Posted by Diana Blair on October 14, 2018

Marianne's Response

Yes! Your rose can be pruned back hard in the spring. This fall you can shorten the tallest canes by about one third to keep them from whipping about in the wind but wait until early spring when you see daffodils in bloom to cut it back to four to five feet. If this is a true climbing rose you may want to train it to bend over an archway to increase more blooms and make the flowers easier to reach. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti