How to Grow Climbing and Rambling Roses Over a Pergola

By early summer, a pergola clothed in roses can bear little resemblance to the structure beneath. Strong posts disappear behind leafy stems, flowers gather at eye level and, overhead, long canes wander from beam to beam, carrying loose clusters of bloom with them. On warm days, fragrance lingers beneath the canopy and fallen petals scatter the path below.

A pergola gives climbing and rambling roses the space to show their different characters beautifully. Shorter climbers can dress the upright posts with repeat-flowering blooms, while a vigorous rambler is allowed to reach higher, spilling across the roof in a great sweep of flower. Planted together, they can create a generous display, with roses from near ground level to high overhead.

The secret lies in choosing the right roses and, perhaps more importantly, in how they are trained.

Climbing and rambling roses are both beautifully suited to pergolas, and there is no need to choose between them.

Indeed, one of the most effective ways to clothe a larger pergola is to grow shorter climbing roses around the posts, where their flowers can be enjoyed at eye level, while allowing a more vigorous rambling rose to travel upwards and across the roof.

The climbers bring colour, fragrance and repeat flowering to the lower and middle sections of the structure. Above them, the rambler can be allowed a little more freedom, its long stems wandering across the beams and eventually creating a generous canopy of foliage and flower.

Together, they create a much fuller effect. Roses can flower at your side as you walk beneath the pergola, while another layer spills softly overhead.

Climbing roses generally have larger flowers and many repeat flower, bringing successive flushes from early summer into autumn. Rambling roses tend to have longer, more pliable stems and a looser habit, making them especially useful for travelling across larger structures.

Most importantly, match the eventual size and vigour of each rose to the part of the pergola you would like it to cover.

A beautiful rose-covered pergola isn't simply about getting the rose to the top as quickly as possible.

If every strong stem is encouraged straight upwards, the plant naturally concentrates much of its flowering higher on the structure. The result can be a glorious roof of roses, but comparatively little flower at eye level.

Instead, think of the pergola in layers.
Shorter climbing roses can be used to dress the uprights. Their stems can be gently encouraged around the lower and middle portions of the posts so that flowering growth develops along their length.

More vigorous stems, particularly those of a rambler, can then be allowed to continue upwards before being guided across the beams overhead.

The result is a pergola that feels clothed rather than simply covered, with flowers gathering around the posts, spilling through the middle and wandering freely across the roof.

A little care at planting gives a rose the best possible beginning.

1. Choose the position

Roses appreciate fertile, well-drained soil and good light. Allow enough room around the base for each plant to establish comfortably, remembering that soil immediately beside a substantial structure can sometimes be comparatively dry.

2. Prepare the ground generously

Dig the planting area thoroughly, loosening the soil and incorporating well-rotted organic matter where appropriate. The aim is to create a generous area of good soil into which new roots can readily travel.

3. Position the rose towards the pergola

Plant with the stems angled gently towards the upright rather than expecting new growth to make an abrupt change of direction later. A short cane can be used initially to bridge the space between the rose and its permanent support.

4. Plant, firm and water

Settle the rose carefully into the prepared ground, backfill with soil and gently firm around it. Water thoroughly after planting to settle the soil around the roots.

5. Begin training from the outset

Climbing and rambling roses do not cling naturally to a structure, so their stems need to be secured. Use suitable wires or supports on the pergola posts and tie stems loosely with soft garden ties, leaving sufficient room for them to thicken.

Roses have a natural urge to grow upwards. Left entirely to themselves, vigorous stems may race towards the roof of a pergola before producing much flower lower down.

Training stems away from the vertical helps change this.

Rather than fastening every climbing stem straight up a post, gently guide longer stems around or diagonally across the upright wherever possible. This places more of the stem closer to the horizontal and encourages flowering shoots to develop along its length.

Imagine dressing the pergola rather than simply reaching its roof.

One stem might be trained around the lower portion of a post. Another can fill the middle. A particularly vigorous shoot can be allowed higher before being directed onwards.

If you are growing a rambler alongside the climbers, its longest stems can be given the upper storey, travelling towards the crossbeams and then spreading out across the roof.

Over time, the framework disappears beneath foliage and flower, but the careful training beneath it is what creates that generous display from top to bottom.

A rose-covered pergola creates something more than a support for plants. It gives the garden another dimension.

From a distance, it draws the eye onwards, its posts disappearing into green and its roof softened by flower. Up close, it becomes wonderfully intimate. Roses can be admired at eye level, fragrance gathers beneath the canopy, petals drift onto the path and clematis flowers appear unexpectedly amongst the leaves.

It becomes lovelier with age, too.

Each season brings stronger stems to guide along another beam, another corner softened by foliage and another space in the framework filled with flower. The shorter climbers dress the posts while the rambler reaches out overhead, and clematis quietly carries the display from one flowering season into the next.