Planting climbers in pots

To ensure your rose thrives in its pot, the roots must have the space to establish. We recommend a pot that it is at least 2ft (60cm) wide and deep with approximately 100 litres of compost.

When it comes to your rose choice, size is everything. Choose a small English climbing rose such as Strawberry Hill (Ausrimini) pictured below. English climbers are particularly good, as they produce plentiful stems from the base, which encourages flowering lower down in the large pot.

Our experts recommend sticking with smaller English climbing roses and short repeat flowering ramblers - no more than 12ft. See our recommended varieties, perfect for pots, throughout this page

Growing in a pot may restrict the overall height of the climbing or rambling rose, however if our recommended roses are planted in the right conditions then you should have a pleasing result. 

When planting the rose you can use a wall as a supporting structure by using wires or a trellis to train the rose as it grows. Alternatively, you can use a sturdy obelisk, at least 6 - 7ft. With larger pots, position your obelisk in to the pot, plant on the outside and twine the main stems to encourage more flowering side shoots. You can otherwise plant your rose on the inside of the obelisk, but be careful to train the stems on the outside of the structure to make it easier for pruning and training. For more advice visit our 'How To Train and Tie-in Climbing and Rambling Roses' article.

If you have any more questions to ask our rose experts, please visit our Contact Us page.