Forum home Tools and techniques

Thickness of wire for Roses?

Hello, I'm planning to grow some climbing roses along my house wall.

What thickness of wire should I use between vine eyes to support the plants?

For my espalier apple tree I used 3mm wire rope with turnbuckles. I recently used 2.5mm galvanized wire from Screwfix to create horizontal supports with turnbuckles for a new Wisteria.

The 2.5mm stuff was cheap and sturdy, but also a bit awkward to manipulate. Especially if working with a lot of it and I will be for the roses.

There will be lots of short runs around French doors and windows so I'll be using more vine eyes at short regular intervals and twisting around those to get some tension rather than using turnbuckles. Otherwise I'll have to buy a silly amount of them and vine eyes are cheap. 

Will thinner galvanized wire or the PVC coated stuff be sufficient for supporting climbing roses?


  • RubytooRubytoo On the sofa, Southerly aspect.Posts: 1,286
    Not sure of the gauge to use, thinner may be okay as you have shorter runs supported. Mine is thick but I don't have the label to say what it was now.
    I don't like to use pvc coated as when you stretch it,  if overstretched it causes damage to the coating. Plain galvanized is better, just personal opinion.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Bath, SomersetPosts: 6,858
    Just looked up my AT book on growing roses but he only mentions "strong" wire. It would probably depend on the variety of rose you wanted, as some climbers have quite strong stems and others are much more pliable. In the end it's probably your personal choice and your budget. 
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 1,442
    Thank you both, I think i'll buy some 1.6mm galvanised wire as I need some for another job anyway and I'll see how that feels. If it doesn't suit then I'll buy some more 2.5mm and just have to accept that it'll take an age to tie it all in!
Sign In or Register to comment.