Updated as of 6/9: Mother nature tested my homemade trellises at full force!! The wind was INSANE on 6/8 and boy I was wondering if my bamboo sticks would fly across the yard 🤣 But guess what??
My homemade & cheap trellises withstood and survived!! 🤯🥳 I literally couldn't believe it! Only one became loose at the top that I had to tie tightly.
You heard that right! In this post, I'll share with you a quick and affordable option to train your climbing rose without breaking your bank.
Climbing rose is a great option especially if you're looking to create spectacular display while saving ground space. Climbing roses don't take much space near the ground as the way shurb roses do. You can pretty much design or train those long canes however you wish and be as creative as your little heart desires.
If you are new to roses, especially climbing roses, this is very important to understand. Roses will bloom at the tip, climbing roses included. The trick with climbing roses is that their canes need to bend approximately45 degree angle (doesn't have to be exact) in order to create multiple lateral shoots or canes.
Those lateral canes are the ones that will produce flowers so you have more roses blooming. It can be hard to visualize so take a look at the photo below where those red triangles are pointing. Those are lateral shoots that grow from a horizontal or main cane.
With climbing roses, there are many options out there as far as what kind of support you can provide for your roses.
You can use a simple trellis, an obelisk, an arch, a gazebo, a lattice, or in this case bamboo sticks or tomatoes cages.
Now, note that depending on the size of your climbing roses when they are fully mature. The bamboo sticks or tomato cages may be too small so they may be used as a temporary solution. Plus they may not last long as bamboo sticks deteriorate.
I found them to be perfect for at least in their first 1-3 years. That will give you time to figure out what to do while promoting lateral canes and blooms.
You will need 2-3 long bamboo sticks per rose, twine and a pair of ✂️ scissors.
Stick bamboo sticks in the ground by your rose, tie the top of the sticks together with a twine. Voila!!
Then start arranging your climbing rose cane...one at a time.
Choones canes that are thicker than a pencil and start bending about 45 degree angel and use a twine to tie to your sticks.
If some canes are flexible, you may be able to wrap around, but be very gentle as you can break them. Some canes are very stiff which won't provide much flexibility. Do it slow and carefully so you don't hurt yourself either. Some canes that are not long enough, you can use longer twine to hold them.
This may be hard to follow without seeing it in action. I have a video below, keep scrolling down.
I'll make an updated video in the future when I can get someone to help film so I can be handfree to demonstrate and need both hands to work the canes. Hopefully, this video gives you a rough idea for now.