Climbing rose single stem - remove?

Last year we planted an Arthur Bell climbing rose. A single stem soon shot straight up from the plant to about 2.5 metres whilst the rest of the plant remained pretty much as it was. My sister in law recently told us she had heard somewhere that such stems should be cut right back to the base as they will prevent the rest of the plant from getting the nutrients it needs to grow properly.

Can anyone advise whether this is indeed the case? Many thanks,

 

Hello and welcome to GC smilingfish,


Climbing roses are the same as shrub roses but with an ability to send up long tall shoots, it sounds like this is exactly what it has done. I hazard a guess you have planted it against a trellis and left it to it's own devices. You have to tie the stems onto the trellis-and gently bend the nain stems downwards, it won't in fact do it for you. The real beauty of these plants is that once you have grasped the basics, they will perform exactly as they should.
Your sis in law is referring ( I think) to what are called suckers. Dig you plant it deep enough? The graft point needs to be under the soil level. If this long stems is coming from below the graft point it is indeed a sucker, but if it is coming from above it then its fine.

If it isn't in deep enough then you must replant it deeper-and as soon as because if it's left til summer to do it it could mean goodbye to the rose.

If you can put up a clear picture then that would be best so we can have a look at what you have there.

I have attached a quick link for you to help you regarding the training, it's very straightforward.

http://www.rose-gardening-made-easy.com/how-to-train-climbing-roses.html

 

thanks for the advice! The stem is coming from just below the ground but I will have to check whether it is below or above the graft point. I am also not sure whether the leaves are different to the main bush as I have read would normally be the case with a sucker. I will get a picture and upload it so you can take a look. cheers!

 

Right, I have sorted out some pictures!
1) Shows the rose bush circled and the long single stem that has grown from it.
2) Shows the start of this stem - it is coming from below the ground although not very deep.
3) Shows the height of the stem and
4) Shows the top of this stem which is starting to produce a couple of new shoots. The leaves look similar to those of the bush at the base although they do appear to be larger.

Is my climbing rose behaving normally or have I got a sucker that i need to deal with?

1.


2.


3.


4.

 

Hi again,

Still a bit too vague for me to see clearly-it could be a sucker-it is innordinately long in comparison to the rest of the rose.


Sorry maybe Woo can see it better than me.

It also looks a bit cramped if I'm being brutally honest.

 

Ho WOO. Isn't there something about the number of leaves on the stem ? I heard somewhere that if it has 5 leaves, then it's NOT a sucker. Any thoughts ? Cheers...freddy.

 

Ok WOO, I had my doubts about it, just thought I'd ask.