- Choosing a Climbing Rose
- Question of the Week
- New Bird House Collection

Choosing a Climbing Rose

Of all the roses you can grow, you will get the most impact from climbing roses. One well-grown climber can cover as much as 40 feet of fence. Less than half a dozen can essentially cover the structure of a large house.

For a very small investment, no other plant can so quickly and dramatically change the character of the landscape. Obviously, any plant that is so strategic must be carefully chosen. Some characteristics to consider are outlined below:

Is the rose to grow horizontally along a fence or be tied vertically to a trellis?

Some climbing roses, technically pillar roses, want to grow stiffly erect or semi-erect. They bloom best in that position. They cannot be gracefully grown horizontally. On the other hand, true climbers bloom best when their canes are tied horizontally. Incidentally, large-flowered pillar roses are best for cutting; small to medium sized cluster bloomers often look best on fences.

How much sun do I have?

If you have less than 5-6 hours of sun, your selection will be limited. Some good climbers that I have found to be particularly shade tolerant are: New Dawn (pastel pink; fragrant; very large growing), Westerland (tangerine; fragrant; excellent fall rebloom; can be trained as either a pillar or climber), Autumn Sunset (the exact same rose as Westerland except its color is peach) and Sea Foam (creamy white, pillar or climber).  All of these roses will also perform even better in full sun.

How much care can I give the rose?

Because of the scale of climbing roses, low-maintenance must be a prime consideration. No climber is self clinging; each cane must be tied to a support. You probably should not commit yourself to a rose that also requires weekly or bi-weekly spraying. All of the roses mentioned so far are low-maintenance climbers. In addition, Canadian bred William Baffin is particularly disease resistant, hardy, and easy to care for. It has medium pink fragrant blooms and a restrained 10 foot growth habit that can be trained either horizontally or vertically. A new yellow climber that is proving to be very good is Garden Sun. It is clothed with loads of disease-resistant, dark green foliage. Garden Sun also has a 10 foot restrained growth habit that can be trained as either a pillar or climber.

Finally, because I know some of you will ask, the best red climber is Dublin Bay, but it is not a low-maintenance rose. Dublin Bay is a medium-maintenance, 10 foot climber or pillar and it will require spraying.

If you choose and place your climbing rose carefully, it can be a major asset to your garden at a really low cost.

Next week we will discuss shrubs, particularly those that are more deer-resistant.

Happy Gardening,
Alan Summers

Featured Above
(click on links below for more information)

Question of the Week

Question:
My whole yard is being eaten. It started last summer. One of my roses just dried up and fell over. When I went to pick it up, I discovered that all of the roots had been totally eaten off. Then I started to lose my hostas and my lily bulbs. This spring I don’t see any tulips or crocus coming up and several of my evergreens have been gnawed off at the roots - especially the yews. When the snow melted I found narrow trailing furrows eaten all over the surface of the lawn. Even the bark at the base of some of my trees has been eaten away. What are these varmints and how do I get rid of them?

Answer:
It sounds to me as if you have a bad infestation of pine voles. Unlike moles which eat grubs and earthworms, voles eat plants. I’ll bet you live up against the woods and the worst damage is occurring nearest the woods.

Pine voles are best controlled with poison bait called Ramik. Unlike moles that travel in raised tunnels, vole tunnels are subterranean with just a very few 1 inch wide exit holes. You need to locate these holes and place the bait right next to them. Do not touch the bait and be sure to rebait every day. It takes about 2 weeks of daily baiting to clear out the voles from an area. It is imperative that you cover the bait and the hole with something like a large flower pot saucer or a garbage can lid held down with a heavy stone, cement block or several bricks.

Alternately you can attempt to trap the varmints. I have had some success with mouse traps, under the same covers, baited with a combination of peanut butter and rolled oats - the kind you use to make regular “slow-cook” oat meal. However, for me, Ramik has worked much better than traps.

As extensive as your damage is, you are going to have to set up several bait stations - about 20 feet apart seems to be about right; it all depends on where you can find an exit hole.

New for 2003 at Carroll Gardens!

New Collection of Bird Houses!

Our new collection of bird houses provides protection for birds during severe storms and a safe shelter for winter nesting.  Made especially for birds such as the Chickadee, Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Downy Woodpecker, and Finch, these houses range in size from 9 x 7 x 6 to 14 x 7 x 10 inches (H x W x D).  All varieties are available in your choice of brown with a green roof or charcoal with a red roof.  Several varieties feature a removable bottom and are yellow pine-stained.

Carroll Gardens is pleased to introduce this new collection of bird houses to our to our 2003 online catalog.  Click here to learn more about these bird houses or to place an order.