rose arbour collapsing

Brie

down one side of our garden there is a long arbour over a path. in the flower bed on one side there are 2 very old climbing/rambling roses that have been trained up and over the arbour. the branches had originally been pulled down through the arbour so as to anchor the plants to provide a roof of sorts over the path.

in the last week I noticed that the roses are hanging further and further over the flower bed completely shading it. previously the bed would get the full afternoon sun.

we've had no really strong winds, the roses have been watered regularly. So why might this have happened?

I think I need to start chopping back a lot of the roses on the off chance we get rain and/or wind to help stop a further collapse.

Any advice??

Farway

I'm guessing the arbour is made of wood and is slowly collapsing as it rots due to age & weather.

Can it be supported [propped up] from below with stout wooden poles?

Got a photo to assist us?

Brie

other than the leaning it looks perfectly healthy

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82074288#Comment_82074288

sorry - it's the roses that are collapsing away from the arbour rather than the arbour falling to bits. It is still very sturdy. I just don't know why the roses would suddenly consider the possibility of laying on the lawn!!

Farway

Ah, maybe just the weight of roses as they grow? Not noticeable on daily basis but branches slowly getting longer

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82074299#Comment_82074299

The bottom edge of the roses hanging over the border has gone from eye level to knee level in about 2 weeks. The change is obvious where there are roses in bloom and they will be significantly lower from one day to the next.

I've gone out and chopped back a good portion so now it's mostly down to waist level with a lot of chunkier bits cut out higher up. Hopefully that will do until the gardeners visit and can do a proper job. If not I'll hack more off tomorrow.

Still don't know why this has happened though. Unless it's simply a case of coming loose from its "moorings" on the arbour itself? I so don't want to lose these 2 roses - as that is simply only 2 plants. One tiny yellow one on the left that only flowers in the spring and the red which is on the right which flowers throughout the summer. The red "stem" is a good 8 inches across at the point it emerges from the soil so has been there quite some time!!

Emmia

Could you tie the roses up, onto the arbor to support them - either with wire or twine.

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82074366#Comment_82074366

I think the only way possible would be to get a long rope with a person either end pulling from the lane next to our fence to try and pull the leaning rose branches back up on to the arbour itself and then needing possibly a 3rd person to secure the rose branches on to the arbour. Not something just me and the OH can do, assuming we could find a suitable length of rope.

FreeBear

I'd suggest a brutal prune and reduce it down to just a handful of stems to retrain over the couple of years. Looks like just too much growth there, and gravity is the driving force behind the collapse.