Best Climbing Roses for UK Gardens

Climbing roses are one of the loveliest things you can grow against a UK wall. You get scent, colour and flowers from June to October, all from a small patch of ground. Below are the best varieties for every wall, from scented David Austin roses for a sunny spot to tough ones that flower on a north wall with only a little sun.

How to choose a climbing rose for your aspect

Start with which way your wall faces. Get that right and a climbing rose will look after itself once it’s settled.

South-facing walls get the most sun and warmth. Almost any climbing rose is happy here. This is the spot for David Austin roses and the most heavily scented kinds, whose fragrance is strongest in the warmth.

West-facing walls get afternoon and evening sun. Most climbing roses do well. West walls tend to catch more rain, so pick a variety that resists disease.

East-facing walls get morning sun only and can be cold. Stick to the toughest repeat-flowering kinds. Delicate flowers can be spoilt when frosty buds warm up too fast in the morning sun.

Variety comparison table

Best climbing roses for north-facing walls

New Dawn

‘New Dawn’ is one of the most reliable climbing roses you can grow. Clusters of soft pearl-pink, lightly scented flowers keep coming from June to October. It’s very tough, coping with shade, poor soil and cold winters. It’s also good at shrugging off blackspot.

Madame Alfred Carrière

A big, slightly looser rose with creamy-white, scented flowers from June to October. Its stems have few thorns, which makes tying in much more pleasant. It’s good at resisting disease, though it can get a bit more blackspot than ‘New Dawn’ in a very wet summer.

Best scented climbing roses

Scent is half the joy of a climbing rose. These have proper, room-filling fragrance.

The Generous Gardener (David Austin)

A David Austin English rose in climbing form. Its large, cupped flowers are the palest blush pink, almost white in strong sun. The scent mixes old rose, myrrh and musk, and drifts across the garden on warm evenings. It repeats well, with a big flush in June and another later in summer.

A Shropshire Lad (David Austin)

Soft peachy-pink flowers with a lovely fruity scent. It repeat-flowers through summer and suits a sunny south or west wall.

Constance Spry (David Austin)

The only once-flowering rose here, and it’s in for its amazing scent. Big, cupped, blush-pink flowers with a strong myrrh fragrance appear in one glorious burst in June and early July. If you can live with one show a year, it’s worth a big south or west wall.

It gets blackspot more easily than the others. But as it finishes flowering early, it’s usually done before the worst of the late summer disease. Prune straight after flowering.

Climbing Ena Harkness

A red climbing rose with a rich, classic rose scent, which is rare in modern reds. The deep crimson, velvety flowers come in flushes from June to October.

It’s less disease resistant than some, so it’s best for gardeners happy to keep an eye on it. A sunny south wall, where the air is drier, suits it best. The colour and scent make it worth the extra care.

A warm south wall with good airflow suits this red best. Keep an eye on the leaves in wet summers and it rewards you with scent for months.

Best repeat-flowering climbing roses

Repeat flowering means several flushes of flowers from June to October, instead of one burst in early summer. These do it reliably.

Climbing Iceberg

‘Climbing Iceberg’ is one of the most reliable repeat flowerers, and it resists disease well too. Clusters of pure white flowers keep coming from June until the first frosts. It grows neatly and is easy to train.

Training stems flat along wires is the single best thing you can do for more flowers.

Mortimer Sackler (David Austin)

Soft, pale pink flowers, good repeat flowering and strong disease resistance. It’s one of the more manageable David Austin climbers, staying fairly tidy, and it has a lovely scent too.

Teasing Georgia (David Austin)

Golden-yellow flowers that fade to cream at the edges, with a strong tea rose scent. It repeat-flowers from June to October and does best on a sunny south or west wall.

Lots of yellow climbers fade in the sun, have little scent or only flower once. ‘Teasing Georgia’ avoids all three.

How to plant a climbing rose

Plant about 45cm out from the wall. Walls keep rain off the soil right at their base, so it’s often bone dry there. A little further out, the roots get a proper drink and the stems can still reach the wall.

Dig a hole about 60cm wide and deep. Loosen the bottom with a fork. Mix a bucket of well-rotted compost or manure into the soil you dug out. On heavy clay, add a handful of grit too.

Plant at the right depth. Set the rose so the graft union (the knobbly bit where the stems meet the roots) sits at soil level, unless the supplier’s instructions say otherwise.

Lean the plant towards the wall so the stems head for their support. Give it a full watering can, then spread a thick mulch of compost or bark around the base, keeping it off the stems.

Planting a little way out from the wall gets the roots out of the dry rain shadow. Lean the stems back so they head straight for the wires.

Training climbing roses on wires

Training the stems flat is the secret to a wall full of flowers.

Horizontal wires on a garden wall. Training stems sideways gives you many more flowering side shoots.

When a stem grows straight up, the rose puts its energy into the tip, and you only get a few flowers at the top. Bend that stem flat and buds all along it wake up and flower. That’s how you get a wall covered in roses.

Fix horizontal wires to the wall about 40cm apart, held on with vine eyes. Galvanised wire pulled tight with a tensioner lasts for years.

Fan the main stems out from the base and tie each one to a wire, as flat as it will go. In the first year you might only manage a gentle angle. Ease them a little flatter each winter as they grow longer. Use soft twine in a figure of eight so the tie doesn’t cut in as the stem thickens.

Tie in new growth through summer. Long new stems appear from June. Tie them loosely to the nearest wire, then fit them in properly when you prune in winter. Our guide to training young climbers covers wires and tying in step by step.

Pruning climbing roses

Climbing roses are pruned differently from bush roses. You’re keeping a framework of main stems and keeping the side shoots flowering.

Prune in late winter, between January and March.

First, take out dead, diseased or damaged wood. Cut back to healthy wood with a green centre. Remove any stems that rub or cross.

Cut side shoots back to two or three buds. These short spurs are where most of next year’s flowers come from. On older plants, you can take out some of the oldest side shoots completely to make room for new ones.

Leave the main stems alone unless they’re old, diseased or too big for the space. If one needs replacing, cut it out and let a strong new stem from the base take over. Tie it in flat at the next winter prune.

Tie in new stems that have grown past their wires, weaving them into gaps as flat as you can. For other climbers that grow happily with roses, see our guide to fast-growing climbers for fences and walls.

Feeding and disease management

Climbing roses want feeding for flowers rather than leaves. So go easy on high-nitrogen feeds and give them potash instead.

In March, sprinkle sulphate of potash around the base at the rate on the pack, then mulch with well-rotted compost. Add a rose fertiliser in April.

Feed again after the first flush of flowers. This helps the next flushes along. Deadhead each faded cluster promptly, so the rose makes more flowers instead of seeds.

Blackspot is the most common rose disease in the UK. It shows as round black spots on the leaves, which then turn yellow and drop. Pick off spotty leaves and clear fallen ones in autumn and winter. If you choose to use a fungicide, pick one labelled for roses and follow the label. A disease-resistant variety saves most of this work. See our guide to black spot on roses for more.

Aphids crowd onto new shoot tips from May. Blast them off with a jet of water from the hose. Ladybirds and lacewings soon move in and usually sort them out by June.

Round black spots with feathery edges and yellowing around them mean blackspot. Pick off spotty leaves and clear fallen ones to slow it down.

Types of climbing roses: which rose type do you actually need?

Climbing roses, rambling roses and big shrub roses grown on a wall often get mixed up. Here’s the difference.

Climbing roses are what this guide is about. They have big flowers on stiff stems, and most modern ones repeat-flower from June to October. They suit walls, fences and pillars.

Rambling roses usually flower once, in June and early July. They grow much bigger, with clusters of small flowers. They suit large pergolas, big trees and places where one spectacular show is enough. ‘Rambling Rector’, ‘Wedding Day’ and ‘Kiftsgate’ are classic ramblers. They’re pruned differently from climbers, so check which you’ve got.

Shrub roses on a wall can work too. Some big shrub roses, including some David Austin ones, can be trained against a wall by tying in the longer stems. They won’t grow as tall as a true climber and need more tying in.

For a look at all the different kinds of rose, see our types of roses guide.

David Austin climbing roses: are they worth the extra cost?

David Austin climbers usually cost more than other climbing roses. Whether they’re worth it depends on what matters most to you.

‘The Generous Gardener’ from David Austin: repeat-flowering, strongly scented and disease resistant.

They really shine for scent and flower shape. Their big, cupped, many-petalled flowers come in soft blush, apricot, warm yellow and deep pink. ‘A Shropshire Lad’, ‘The Generous Gardener’ and ‘Teasing Georgia’ smell wonderful.

Where some can let you down is blackspot on clay soil in a wet summer. ‘New Dawn’ and ‘Climbing Iceberg’, which aren’t David Austin roses, generally stay cleaner.

The David Austin website has growing notes for each of their varieties, which is handy if you’re new to them.

‘New Dawn’ on a north-west facing wall. One of the few climbing roses that flowers well with only a little sun.

Related reading

• When to plant roses in the UK: the best times for bare-root and potted roses
• Best flowering shrubs for UK gardens: shrubs to plant at the foot of a rose wall or fence
• Best perennial plants for UK gardens: low plants that keep rose roots cool and shaded
• Best plant combinations for UK borders: colours and shapes that go well with roses
• How to grow cut flowers in the UK: repeat-flowering climbers give you roses to cut from June to October

Frequently asked questions

What is the best climbing rose for a north-facing wall in the UK?

‘Madame Alfred Carrière’ is a top pick for a north wall. It copes with less light than most climbing roses and has big, creamy-white, scented flowers from June to October. ‘New Dawn’ is another great choice.

What is the difference between a climbing rose and a rambling rose?

Climbers repeat-flower; most ramblers flower just once. Climbing roses have bigger flowers on stiffer stems and suit walls, fences and pillars. Ramblers flower once in early summer, grow much bigger and have clusters of small flowers. They suit large pergolas and trees.

When should I prune climbing roses in the UK?

Prune in late winter, between January and March. Take out dead, damaged or crossing stems first. Then cut the side shoots back to two or three buds. Leave the main stems alone unless they’re diseased or too big. Tie in any new long stems as flat as you can.

How do I train a climbing rose on wires?

Fix horizontal wires to the wall about 40cm apart. Fan the main stems out from the base and tie each one to a wire, as flat as it will go. Flat stems give the most flowers. Tie in new growth through summer with soft twine in a figure of eight, so the stem has room to thicken.

Why is my climbing rose not flowering?

Usually because the stems are growing straight up. Upright stems only flower at the tip. Tie them in as flat as you can and you’ll get flowers all along. Pruning too hard, too much high-nitrogen feed and too little sun can also hold it back.

How do I treat blackspot on climbing roses?

Pick off spotty leaves and bin them, not compost them. Clear fallen leaves from around the base in autumn. If you want to use a fungicide, choose one whose label says it’s for roses and follow the instructions. Disease-resistant varieties save a lot of bother.

Can climbing roses grow in pots?

Yes, if you choose a compact one and a big pot. Go for at least 60 litres and a smaller variety such as ‘Warm Welcome’ or ‘Phyllis Bide’. Use a soil-based compost like John Innes No. 3, water every day in summer, and feed every couple of weeks with rose feed from April to August.