2020-01-10

Pillared rose using a timber post

In England we saw a number of ways of trellising roses that aren't commonly seen in S. California.  There's this drift of rambling rose over a felled tree that I though was particularly picturesque:

Rambling rose on a felled tree, England, 2019
This requires the sort of space that we are typically short on in S. California, but there was another technique we saw that I subsequently learned was called pillaring: A climbing rose is planted near (12" from) the base of a wooden post and twined about it making more efficient use of space and allowing incorporation vertical garden elements.

The following two pictures after the jump make the concept clear.





Pillared rose in English garden, 2019
Pillared rose - note that post is not snugged up against the roots.
Reading around the web about this technique, it seems that it is crucial to plant the rose at a greater distance than one would first think from the pillar.  One foot seems to be a typical recommended distance.  Wooden posts of the right size and aesthetic are hard to come by in my area - typically the garden centers have 2-1/2" diameter treated stakes which really don't seem proportionate to the task.

Fortunately, we've figured out a local supply of appropriate timbers, which I've written about previously.

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