I have put the rambling rose Alberic Barbier in a dank corner because I read
that it can do well in adverse situations. But after less than two years in
the ground it is obvious that it is growing far too big for the situation,
will grow much bigger yet if left, so it will have to be removed.

The situation is a corner that gets almost no direct sunlight exccept for a
tiny bit in midsummer. The climber needs to grow 6 feet high in that
situation before it reaches the sunlight, although even there this is limited
as it is in a 9 foot gap between two buildings, between a north facing wall
and a south facing wall. It is needed to grow up and across some trellis for
a few feet- not really any more than that- and then stop. Or something close
to that that I could reasonably cut back a bit from time to time. AB is so
vigourous that I have no realistic hope of managing it- it is a very tight
corner with very limited access and because of the difficult access, in
practise it grows faster than I can cut it.

Any climbing rose suggestions much appreciated! Or in fact any climber that
would work in this situation and with these size restrictions. It doesn't
need to be particularly fast growing, but it does need to tolerate lack of
sunlight until it is 6 feet tall and capable of growing over the fence. It
needs to be shrubby ie not something that dies down each year. Most
importantly it does need thorns- this is for a thorny barrier. TIA for any
ideas.
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

"VX" wrote ...
I have put the rambling rose Alberic Barbier in a dank corner because I
read
that it can do well in adverse situations. But after less than two years
in
the ground it is obvious that it is growing far too big for the situation,
will grow much bigger yet if left, so it will have to be removed.

The situation is a corner that gets almost no direct sunlight exccept for
a
tiny bit in midsummer. The climber needs to grow 6 feet high in that
situation before it reaches the sunlight, although even there this is
limited
as it is in a 9 foot gap between two buildings, between a north facing
wall
and a south facing wall. It is needed to grow up and across some trellis
for
a few feet- not really any more than that- and then stop. Or something
close
to that that I could reasonably cut back a bit from time to time. AB is so
vigourous that I have no realistic hope of managing it- it is a very tight
corner with very limited access and because of the difficult access, in
practise it grows faster than I can cut it.

Any climbing rose suggestions much appreciated! Or in fact any climber
that
would work in this situation and with these size restrictions. It doesn't
need to be particularly fast growing, but it does need to tolerate lack of
sunlight until it is 6 feet tall and capable of growing over the fence. It
needs to be shrubby ie not something that dies down each year. Most
importantly it does need thorns- this is for a thorny barrier. TIA for any
ideas.

Most climbers are going to need some sort of care, tieing in, pruning etc,
so despite what you say I would still suggest you leave the rose as it's
growing so well in a difficult situation and prune it every year to keep it
in bounds.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 23:35:59 +0100, Bob Hobden wrote
(in message ):

Most climbers are going to need some sort of care, tieing in, pruning etc,
so despite what you say I would still suggest you leave the rose as it's
growing so well in a difficult situation and prune it every year to keep it
in bounds.

Thanks for the idea- oddly I had never even thought of that!

Meanwhile, any suggestions for small-ish thorny climbers that don't need a
lot of sunlight are welcome.....

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

In message m, VX
writes
On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 23:35:59 +0100, Bob Hobden wrote
(in message ):

Most climbers are going to need some sort of care, tieing in, pruning etc,
so despite what you say I would still suggest you leave the rose as it's
growing so well in a difficult situation and prune it every year to keep it
in bounds.

Thanks for the idea- oddly I had never even thought of that!

Meanwhile, any suggestions for small-ish thorny climbers that don't need a
lot of sunlight are welcome.....

Pyracantha is thorny and doesn't need sun; it's a wall-shrub, not a
climber, but a climber-like result can be achieved with training and
pruning - but it's a thug too if it takes off, so you would still have
to prune it once or ideally twice a year....

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

I agree about the pyracanthea. They look fantastic and attract the birds to the berries in winter, Yellow, orange or red.

Before you consider ripping out the rose maybe you should test for dryness at the roots. Between two walls it might be bone dry down there.

Take a peice of 15mm copper pipe like the plumbers use and hammer it down into the roots about a foot. then waggle it about and lift it out. Push out the soil core from the tube and check how wet / dry it is. If its dry, what ever you plant, keep watering!