Old rambling rose advice needed

Hello!
I wonder if someone could help me with my rambling rose, well I think it’s a rambling rose.
It was in the garden when I moved in and it does produce a stunning flush of flowers each year. However all advice I’ve read about how to prune them doesn’t seem to fit with something this old and neglected. The main woody stems are over 1” in diameter. Most flower stems run off the main old horizontal ones. I have already pruned the spent flowers and some branches that get in the way of the washing line.

I want to replace the wire fence that it’s intertwined with for a more substantial trellis. I was planning on cutting the wire out and leaving most of the plant intact but I now think it might be better to rejuvenate the whole plant.
Is this a good or bad idea and how should I go about doing it?

any advice hugely appreciated!

 

Hello,

I think my first reaction to this was “I wouldn’t have started from here.” The wire fence is going to be a real nightmare to remove and you have to ask yourself about the logistics and mechanics of inserting a stout trellis as replacement with the rose still in place.

Maybe bite the bullet and cut down the rambler to a few strong stems coming up from the ground each trimmed to a few feet in length. Then you’d have a clear site to work with.

If the rambler is fit, it should grow back in a couple of years time into a manageable shape with fresh flower shoots on it.

 

Thank you, yes sadly everything was already like this when I bought the house so I’m trying to slowly improve it.
I’ve not had any new shoots growing from the ground in the last few years since I’ve been here. It’s been vigorous, but only from higher up branches.
Im hoping if I cut the big ones down to a few feet then new ones will appear. Is that correct?

thanks!

 

Yes they will. It will also encourage your rose to send out new canes from the ground.
You can then train it a bit so you get more flowers by training the new canes horizontally on its new support.
Then you'll get flowers all the way along the length of the cane.
If the cane just grows skyward, then you only get flowers at the top.

 

Thanks both!
Last question…
When is the best time do to this?

 

Yes, as others have said, it will be best if you start out again with this rose by cutting the whole lot down to about 2 feet above ground or enough for you to remove the old trellis and do your remedial work with the fencing. You will get some regrowth this autumn with some flowers next summer but obviously not as many. You will also lose the hips for this winter.
Plus a lot of pruned growth to dispose of. It's sometimes a good idea to do this drastic pruning with ramblers if they've got out of hand, so not a problem.

Your rose incidentally is called 'Francis E. Lester'.. a hybrid musk type rambler.

I would do it now.

 

I had Francis E Lester on the back of my pergola years ago-

In hindsight I could have phrased that sentence a bit better

 

Thanks everyone! I’ve got something to aim for now!

very helpful and informative!

 

Invaluable advice, thank you. I also have a very old rambling rose, which attacks me if I get anywhere close, I will make a determined effort to cut it well down.

Protective gloves at the ready.