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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · seasonal

Climbing vs rambling roses: two plants, two pruning calendars

Climbers get pruned in winter, ramblers straight after flowering. How to tell them apart, how to train stems sideways for more flowers, and how hard to cut each.

seasonal
Side-by-side comparison: on the left a climbing rose stem — stiff, thick, with a few large double flowers; on the right a rambling rose stem — long, thin, flexible and arching, carrying a large cluster of many small single flowers.
1Climber (left): stiff stems, big flowers. Rambler (right): long flexible stems, clusters of small flowers.

Climbers and ramblers both go up walls, both have thorns and both get lumped together on garden-centre labels. But they're pruned at opposite ends of the year, and pruning one as if it were the other is the most common reason a "climbing rose" goes years without a decent flower. So, before the secateurs come out, the one question that matters.

In pictures

  1. A climbing rose trained on horizontal wires against a pale wall: main stems fanned out almost horizontally, with many short upright flowering side-shoots rising all along their length.
    2Stems trained close to horizontal flower all along their length.
  2. Close-up of a winter climbing rose: a horizontal main stem tied to a wire with a loose figure-of-eight of soft twine; a short side-shoot on it has a dashed line showing it shortened by about two-thirds, leaving a few buds.
    3In winter, shorten a climber's flowered side-shoots by about two-thirds.
  3. A rambling rose in late summer after flowering: one old, thick, woody stem cut away at the base (shown lying on the ground beside the plant), and two long, fresh green new stems being tied in to replace it.
    4After flowering, take one in three old rambler stems out at the base and tie in new ones.

01At a glance

  • Climbers: main prune December–February. In autumn, just shorten or tie in long whippy shoots so wind doesn't thrash them.
  • Ramblers: prune in late summer, straight after flowering.
  • Time: 30–60 minutes per plant, more for an established rambler.
  • Tools: secateurs, loppers, thick gloves, long sleeves, soft twine, a stable ladder.
  • You'll know it worked when: flowering side-shoots break all along stems tied out sideways, not just at the top.

02First: climber or rambler?

As a rule of thumb:

  • Climber — stiffer, thicker stems; larger flowers, often in small groups; many repeat-flower through summer.
  • Rambler — long, flexible stems that can run many metres; masses of small flowers in big clusters; usually one big flush in early summer.

03The trick that works for both: go sideways

Roses flower far more on stems trained close to horizontal. A vertical stem flowers at the tip; a stem bent along a wire sends up flowering side-shoots along its whole length. Run wires on a wall or fence with the lowest at about 45cm and the rest roughly 30cm apart, and fan the main stems out along them. On a pillar or arch, twist the main stems around the uprights.

04Pruning a climber (December–February)

  1. Remove dead, diseased and damaged wood first.
  2. Tie in the framework. Keep the healthy main stems, spread as near horizontal as you can.
  3. Shorten the side-shoots that flowered by about two-thirds of their length.
  4. Renewing an old, bare-legged climber? Take a few of the oldest stems out at the base, keeping up to six young, vigorous ones to train in.
  5. Through summer, deadhead faded flowers to keep repeat-flowerers going.

05Pruning a rambler (late summer, after flowering)

  1. Take out about one in three of the oldest stems entirely, at the base.
  2. Tie in the new, long stems that have grown this year to replace them — these carry next summer's flowers.
  3. Shorten the remaining flowered side-shoots by about two-thirds.
  4. Short of space? You can remove all the flowered stems instead and tie in the new ones.
  5. Badly overgrown? Renovate in late autumn or winter: keep up to six young, vigorous stems and shorten their tips by a third to a half.
  6. Just planted one? Cut it back to about 40cm to encourage strong new stems from the base.

06Mistakes that cost you flowers

  • Pruning a rambler in winter. You'll remove the wood that would have flowered.
  • Leaving it all to grow straight up. You get a bare base and flowers out of sight at the top.
  • Not pruning at all. The RHS's description of the result is fair: a tangled mess with very few flowers.
Save your money
Skip special rose ties and clips. Soft garden twine tied in a loose figure-of-eight does the job — and won't strangle the stem.
Don't buy a bigger, "more vigorous" rose to fix a shy flowerer. Train the one you have sideways first.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — Rose pruning: climbing roses · RHS — Rose pruning: rambling roses · RHS — Rose pruning: general tips

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.