Trimming Climbing Roses

[goose70]

Hello. I'm a novice gardener in Maryland. Two years ago my wife and I transplanted a spindly rose bush from a shaded area to a sunny spot next to our garage. As you can see, it promptly climbed and gets full of blooms in the spring-early summer, but then the leaves begin the fall off and it loses blooms. I'm concerned that it gets too bushy, allowing for mold/mildew growth. Among other things to address this issue, should I trim back this bush this time of year (before it buds) and, if so, how much? It started re-growing so vigorously a couple of weeks ago, so I hate to touch it, but I also want it to be healthy through the summer.

 

[oneeye]

I wouldn't trim off the tops because that will cut off the this years roses. I would only remove the dead and disease wood and also any limbs that or crossing or rubbing at this time. Training your rambler rathier that pruning is the best choice when it come to pruning climbing roses. Your climbing rose looks almost perfect at this time, and I don't see where pruning your plant would be helpful at all. She's beautiful and healthy the way she is now without doing any pruning..

 

[Sheal]

Have you fed the rose at all?

 

[goose70]

Update; rose bush is doing great, so far. It's spread to a second trellis. I fed it BioAdvanced rose food in early April, which supposedly helps guard against insect and disease damage, and just fed it another dose today. Fingers crossed.

 

[Sheal]

It's looking lovely goose70. Feeding it is obviously what it needed.