Climbing roses offer a visually striking way to soften the hard lines of a brick wall, but they do not climb on their own. These vigorous shrubs have long, flexible canes that require a support system and consistent training to grow vertically. Installing this necessary framework securely on a brick surface without damaging the masonry requires careful planning for both the plant’s health and the wall’s integrity.
Preparing the Wall and Plant
The successful growth of a climbing rose begins with a suitable planting location and an assessment of the wall. Climbing roses require a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight daily; a south or west-facing wall is often the best choice for abundant flowering. Plant the rose far enough away from the brick to prevent the wall from stealing moisture and nutrients.
A planting distance of 18 to 24 inches from the base of the wall is recommended to give the roots enough room to establish themselves. Amend the soil with organic matter to improve drainage and fertility, as the rose will be a long-term fixture. When planting, angle the rose slightly toward the wall to encourage upward growth toward the support system.
The brick surface should be inspected for any existing damage or loose mortar joints that may need repair before installation. A mature climbing rose, especially when wet, can become quite heavy, requiring a robust support structure. Selecting a rose variety with a mature height appropriate for the wall’s size will prevent the plant from becoming overgrown and unmanageable.
Secure Attachment Methods for Brick
The most important step in training a rose on brick is installing a reliable support system that does not compromise the structure. The preferred method for attaching a support is to drill into the mortar joints, the soft material between the bricks, instead of the bricks themselves. Mortar is softer than the brick and can be repaired or replaced more easily if needed.
Use a masonry drill bit and a hammer drill to create holes in the mortar for your support hardware. The most effective framework is a horizontal wire system, often called an espalier system. This is created by installing specialized hardware such as vine eyes, eye bolts, or masonry plugs into the drilled holes.
Vine eyes are metal anchors designed to hold a wire away from the wall, promoting air circulation behind the plant for disease prevention. These anchors are spaced horizontally, often 12 to 18 inches apart, with rows running vertically up the wall at similar intervals. Once secured, a strong, galvanized wire is threaded through the eyes, creating a grid for the rose to be attached. This horizontal framework is far more effective than a simple vertical trellis because it maximizes the rose’s bloom production.
Directing and Tying the Canes
Once the secure wire framework is installed, the ongoing process of directing the rose’s growth can begin. Climbing roses produce flowers on lateral shoots that grow from the main, structural canes. To maximize blooms, the primary canes must be trained to grow as horizontally as possible along the installed wires.
Bending the canes horizontally distributes the flow of growth hormones more evenly along the cane’s length, stimulating many side shoots, or laterals, to emerge. These laterals are the parts that will bear the flowers. Secure the young, pliable canes to the horizontal wires using soft, flexible material, such as garden twine, strips of pantyhose, or specialized plant tie tape.
The ties must be wrapped loosely around the cane and the wire to prevent the material from cutting into the growing stem, a process called girdling. As the rose grows, continue to fan the new, long canes out and tie them into the next available horizontal wire, maintaining the open, flat structure. Initial formative pruning involves removing weak or damaged canes to establish a strong, fanned-out structure of four to six main canes that will form the plant’s permanent framework.