Question
Hi Lynette,
I have 2 questions for you.  

First one is, what would happen if I didn't support a climbing rose? Would the canes just arch over to form a large, rounded, umbrella shaped shrub looking thing?? I'm thinking of doing such a thing with a climbing New Dawn that I saw at the store. If you tell me it's a terrible idea, I won't, but I'm tempted!  I just don't have the proper place to put it (height wise) but really would love to have one. I have a space along a fence that is about 5' wide that I would use.

Second question is I bought and planted a Louise Odier Old Garden Rose last spring.  She is just lovely! This year, her canes reach up about 3.5 feet.  Since this is a new rose, should I not prune it this year, to allow it to get established, or is it ok to trim her back like I would the others?

Thanks for your wisdom!!


Answer
Not all roses or climbers grow the same way as they are genetically programmed to grow a certain way. Some slowly grow tall by making a tall bush others throw up canes and grow like a vase shape. You are hoping that New Dawn will throw up canes  and make a beautiful fountain. It does depend where you garden. New Dawn will grow like that if it has rich soil and  a long warm summer. In my PNW area it makes a tall shrub. So plant your New Dawn on the fence and only encourage tall canes to grow. When you buy the rose you will see how many canes it has. Only allow three of the thickest to grow and cut all the others right down to the base. This will put all the energy into the three that are left and they will be strong and hopefully will grow tall. If any other canes start to come from the base and are thinner than a pencil also cut those out to the base. That will make all the energy to go to the tall thick canes. They might bend over and they might be so harden that they just stick upward and wave around. Look at it this way. If all fails, you can't kill New Dawn by whacking it back as New Dawn can be easily grown as a large shrub.
Louise Odier is a really good Bourbon, one of the best. The general rule for most roses is to not prune them for about three years. Then they will make the shape and growth that is normal to them. Louise Odier grows into a very attractive large shrub. I would wait for at least another year and then prune the whole bush back by about a third. Again depending where you garden, Louise shouldn't need much pruning after the main one, only to tidy her up and cut out any dead or diseased growth. Because of where my garden is situated, I grow many of my climbers as very large shrubs so you can do different things with climbers.
http://www.theoldrosarian.com/