How should climbing roses be pruned against a wall?
That’s a huge topic all in itself. Basically, climbing roses should be pruned at the base of the plant, removing older growth from the bottom. Pruning older canes out will make room for new growth and provide for blooms top to bottom. Otherwise you will end up with bare wood at the bottom and flowers and leaves at the top. Also remove canes that are growing away from the wall. Leaving a 3- or 4-inch stub will provide for growing points for new horizontal canes. The buds are small but try to prune just above buds that are pointed back toward the wall or parallel with the wall. Most of the flowers will come from those canes which grow horizontally, not vertically, and are moderate growers. Strong growing canes usually grow at the expense of flowers. Training upward growing canes into horizontal growth by trellising will encourage that cane to flower more. Q: I have some fuzzy growth on the bottom of my oak leaves. It’s different from the other leaves. Is this common? A: The bottom of Her
