Training a Climber

How 'harsh' can you be with a Rose to keep it tied up to a trellis? My Sunseeker climber is trying to occupy the same space as my Lantana hedge ... or vice versa. I have severely cut the Lantana away from the Rose but feel I need to tie the Rose back away from it. Is it basically pull it back as harshly as you can without damaging it?

 

Thank you my dear Woo ... I knew you would gallantly come to my rescue so I will now go back down the garden and be firm but gentle with her.

Yes, Sunseeker was an 18" patio rose when I bought her in B&Q on the Isle of Wight some nine years ago (I still have the label that came with her). I had her in a nice concrete pedestal pot which I brought her here in. After a couple of years I decided to plant her in the ground next to Oranges & Lemons. The very first year she shot up out of the ground and has maintained a height of about six feet plus but her leaves are still tiny and the flowers relatively small. This has always been a mystery to me.

Here is Sunseeker getting all too cosy with the Lantana at a height of some 5 1/2 feet ...



... and you can see by this how tall she is, up and over the trellis on the roof ...



The Oranges & Lemons goes to over six foot each year also so maybe it's something to do with my red clay soil?

 

Hello Woo ... I hope you read this ...

Thank you for your lovely comment on my Sunseeker ... besides being beautiful it is actually irridescent in the sun and has a fantastic fragrance ... the best of all worlds! :yess: Depending on the light it can be more orangey or more pinkey!

I solved the initial problem by removing the Lantana hedge entirely .. with t'other half's assistance (actually, he did all the hard work, bless him). So now Sunseeker can spread out to it's heart's content.

I thought I would show you some leaves. The one below the measure is from the Oranges & Lemons shrub and the other two are from Sunseeker. The larger on Sunseeker is from a lower level that was hidden in the Lantana and the smaller leaf if from the uppermost branch going into the overhead trellis.



As they settle down with all their new-found natural light, I will take a photograph for you. :kittykiss:

 

Thank you Woo.

I don't know if you've seen my latest ...

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/members-hobbies/17838-victoriart-aka-lols-leisure.html#post417956

 

Hello Woo .. are you there ... ?

Now that Sunseeker has lots of light and sunshine (when she's not being battered by torrential rain and hailstones like today) she is growing an at amazing rate with beautiful burgundy new leaf growth. It's blue skies and sunshine now so I was wandering around looking at everything that enjoyed the flood ....

However, there is now a shoot / sucker? coming from near the base which is this lovely colour also but it has 5 leaves (not 7) so I 'assume' has not gone wild .... ?

Can I cut this off and try to root it for a friend?