Growth Habit: Ramblers
The group of climbing plants we call ramblers have particularly stiff shoots and/or thorns and use them to hook themselves into a provided trellis, posts, or wire-ropes in order to climb. Rambling roses and climbing roses are the classic example. By tying the shoots and branches in the right way and pruning the plant, ramblers can also be trained into more orderly shapes, yet in a way that the transition to this more artificial growth form is fluent.
Species
Climbing roses, firethorn, winter jasmine, blackberries, and shrub clematis, are all ramblers.
Suitable Wire Rope Trellises
A climbing aid for a rambler must be able to withstand the lateral pressure and the tension of the growing shoots and branches, and must be well fastened to the facade. We recommend at least a medium, or for bigger roses, a heavy / massive version of our wire rope trellises. Sometimes easy and even light systems might be sufficient. Grid-shaped arrangements are ideal, i.e., rope systems with several vertical and horizontal ropes onto which the plant shoots can be tied.
Wire Rope Trellises with Limited Suitability
For ramblers, wire rope trellises with only one vertical rope are sometimes sufficient, but two or even more parallel lines are usually better, so that the shoots can be tied to the wires diagonally or undulating (in a wave shape), as with roses. The height of the trellis also matters as it should harmonise with the expected growth height of the respective plant: obviously a trellis that is too tall or too short would not be optimal.
Unsuitable Wire Rope Trellises
Finely-meshed supports are not a good fit for plants with this growth strategy. Despite the higher price of such trellises, they do not offer any additional benefit to the plant. Also, avoid rope arrangements which are significantly higher than the expected growth height of the ramblers, as well as those with only vertical ropes (or where vertical ropes dominate).
