I have a large climbing rose on my 8ft solid back fence that has come
crashing down due to the support wires rusting thru. Is there a good
way to support a rose on a fence without the use of a trellis?

Yeah, use loosely attached plastic supports on the fence and to it that way.
Climbing roses don't actually climb. They need supports, be it the type you had
which rusted or plastic supports. You can buy them at Home Depot in the cable
tv wire and accessories section. Make sure you don't choke the branch by making
it too tight in the support. I've used those cable mounts, then thread a tie
wrap through very loosely around the branch and leaving it like that. It takes
years and years for those to disintegrate.


On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 01:13:12 GMT, Gideon Singer opined:

I have a large climbing rose on my 8ft solid back fence that has come
crashing down due to the support wires rusting thru. Is there a good
way to support a rose on a fence without the use of a trellis?

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 01:13:12 GMT, Gideon Singer
wrote:

I have a large climbing rose on my 8ft solid back fence that has come
crashing down due to the support wires rusting thru. Is there a good
way to support a rose on a fence without the use of a trellis?

I am trying to picture this. Is your rose growing only on your side of
the fence? Or only on one side? Also, what kind of climber is it and
where are you?

I am in Vancouver BC and the rose is climbing on one side of the
fence. AS to what rose it is ??? all I know is that it has smallish
white blooms and is tolerant of shade.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 23:20:40 GMT, (Shiva) wrote:

I am trying to picture this. Is your rose growing only on your side of
the fence? Or only on one side? Also, what kind of climber is it and
where are you?

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 21:15:04 GMT, Gideon Singer
wrote:

I am in Vancouver BC and the rose is climbing on one side of the
fence. AS to what rose it is ??? all I know is that it has smallish
white blooms and is tolerant of shade.

I see. Your climate is certainly good for roses, from what I
understand. And lucky you to find a shade-tolerant rose.

I asked about what side of the fence because I have enjoyed most the
climbers I have allowed to just mound over my fences on both sides.
They require no tethering at all. But I have ugly chainlink fences,
great for covering this way. A larger, solid privacy type fence
wouldn't be good for this.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003, Gideon Singer wrote:
I have a large climbing rose on my 8ft solid back fence that has come
crashing down due to the support wires rusting thru. Is there a good
way to support a rose on a fence without the use of a trellis?

You can use fence staples and garden ties. Both are readily available at
any hardware or home improvement store. Cheap, easy, effective, and
practically invisible. It allows you to place support exactly where it's
needed, and it's very easy to add or replace support as needed. I've been
doing this for several years and it works great.

Mike

Gideon Singer wrote:

I have a large climbing rose on my 8ft solid back fence that has come
crashing down due to the support wires rusting thru. Is there a good
way to support a rose on a fence without the use of a trellis?

I use brass screw eyes and screw them into the mortar joints of a
wall. I use brass because it does not rust and because it's soft
enough to yield while working it into a joint. Then I tie the
rose canes to the eyes, sometimes close and sometimes quite loose,
depending on the way the cane is growing.

The brass eyes will also work on a wooden fence if the wood is
thick enough.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 19 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/