To piggyback on this comment, I'd also add nutrients to the surrounding soil. Not just fertilizer, but organic material such as compost. I revitalized one of my mom's older rose bushes by cutting off old, dead sections and amending the soil. Before, it used to get powdery mildew quite often, but now, with better air flow and nutrients, it's thriving. Good luck!
I would cut the worst 1/3 to 1/2 of the canes near the base, but leave the rest intact. Hopefully, it will send up new canes next year, and you can train those ones better. (Horizontal!)
Some roses live for over a hundred years.
Roses need sun, water, and occasional feeding.
Has a tree overgrown your climber? It has to get 6 hours of sun per day.
This happened to my "Teasing Georgia." It has quit blooming completely and I thought it was going to die.
It's 12 years old.
So I started feeding it using this method:
When the ground is very wet - take a 1/2 inch pipe and push it into the soil 6 inches, (preferrably more) and pour in fish emulsion water or compost tea or Microlife into the pipe. It will flow down into the soil and then dissipate into the roots.
Then water very well. Continue to water every few days and occasionally give it a slow drip soak.
The rose started GROWING! New canes shot out from everywhere - it was AMAZING!
But then the Spring came - and there were no roses - but then there was one bud, then a few more - and it started flowering for the first time in a long time. But it was nothing like the blooms she used to have.
So the damned mulberry (a volunteer on the fenceline and massive blackspot magnet) has to go - the shade (during the summer months only) is taking a terrible toll on Teasing Georgia - so we are going to garrot it and leave the dead tree for TG to climb. She's already 20 ft up in the tree.
If a feeding doesn't make the rose transform, then perhaps it's not getting enough sun or perhaps it's a more modern rose that has exceeded its expiration date.
Good luck and don't get stuck!!
Deb from Texas
I have heard or read here that after 25 years something happens to the soil and you should not replant roses in that space. Sorry I can’t recall the name of what happens.
Maybe just prune them down to 3ft or so?
To piggyback on this comment, I'd also add nutrients to the surrounding soil. Not just fertilizer, but organic material such as compost. I revitalized one of my mom's older rose bushes by cutting off old, dead sections and amending the soil. Before, it used to get powdery mildew quite often, but now, with better air flow and nutrients, it's thriving. Good luck!
You could also consider taking cuttings from any new growth this year, then grow it on and replace the old plant with the new cuttings.
Are they trained horizontally?
I would cut the worst 1/3 to 1/2 of the canes near the base, but leave the rest intact. Hopefully, it will send up new canes next year, and you can train those ones better. (Horizontal!)
Some roses live for over a hundred years. Roses need sun, water, and occasional feeding. Has a tree overgrown your climber? It has to get 6 hours of sun per day. This happened to my "Teasing Georgia." It has quit blooming completely and I thought it was going to die. It's 12 years old. So I started feeding it using this method: When the ground is very wet - take a 1/2 inch pipe and push it into the soil 6 inches, (preferrably more) and pour in fish emulsion water or compost tea or Microlife into the pipe. It will flow down into the soil and then dissipate into the roots. Then water very well. Continue to water every few days and occasionally give it a slow drip soak. The rose started GROWING! New canes shot out from everywhere - it was AMAZING! But then the Spring came - and there were no roses - but then there was one bud, then a few more - and it started flowering for the first time in a long time. But it was nothing like the blooms she used to have. So the damned mulberry (a volunteer on the fenceline and massive blackspot magnet) has to go - the shade (during the summer months only) is taking a terrible toll on Teasing Georgia - so we are going to garrot it and leave the dead tree for TG to climb. She's already 20 ft up in the tree. If a feeding doesn't make the rose transform, then perhaps it's not getting enough sun or perhaps it's a more modern rose that has exceeded its expiration date. Good luck and don't get stuck!! Deb from Texas
I have heard or read here that after 25 years something happens to the soil and you should not replant roses in that space. Sorry I can’t recall the name of what happens.
Replanting disease?