Do I need to take the leaves off the climbers in prep for the spring? What type of pruning if at all do I need to do? I am working on getting them to grow laterally rather than straight up. Here in Albuquerque I am already seeing new growth. This past week we are in the 70s. Advice please and thank you!
Cece
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Not sure what zone you are in. When I lived in California we did our hard prune in January. Here in Vancouver, WA zone 8B, we do it now. During that hard prune, you should take off every leaf, pick up every leaf off the ground. Prune off any dead, diseased or crossing canes. I cut off anything smaller than a pencil. Choose which are your main canes on a climber; you can cut each lateral back to two to three buds. There are some great videos out there. One, is from Paul Zimmerman, and another David Austin and Heirloom roses.