AGNES O DEA asked 14 years ago
Can I train a rose to become a standard rose bush? I can not find but few in the garden centres and they are not impressive. I already have a red and yellow standard rose bought in Tipperary 3 or 4 years ago but want a pink, peach or white one also. Could a bush rose be teased into becoming a standard one by training a main branch, removing suckers etc?
1 Answers
Gerry Daly Staff answered 6 years ago
Standard roses are grafted at about 120cm about soil onto a rootstock that produces a straight stem.
it would be tricky enough to get a good straight stem and there would be lots of sprouts at soil level where the graft is made on a bush rose.
These could be pruned off to force growth into the single shoot. It is also possible that the single shoot could simply deteriorate after a few years and die back to the graft area.
