Hello!Could anyone tell me what happens if you prune a once-flowering climber in March?The thing is,I really didn't have the time to finish pruning it last autumn,and now about a third of it is unpruned.It looks quite weird and I'd like to finish trimming it now.I have very long canes that stick out and I want to shorten them so that they match the ones I pruned last autumn,strictly to contain the rose.My second question is about my bush roses(hybrid teas mostly,but also comte de chambord,jaques cartier,yolande d'aragon,rose de rescht,indigo).They are all fairly young,up to four years,and last year I pruned my Portlands for the first time,very lightly.It did not go well:rose de rescht was a mess and the others couldn't support all the flowers they had(not that there were that many,just a goodish regular amount),so I had to tie them to support them(the ones that were left unbroken by heavy winds and rains,that is).The canes were very fragile.My H.Teas also got a light pruning,much to my aunt's displeasure(she's all for hard pruning).They suffered the same fate.After the first massive flush,I decided to take action:I deadheaded/pruned very drastically,up to 50% of the plant.Turned out to be a good decision:I had rebloom quicker than the previous year,so the roses seemed to have liked being deadheaded severely.This year I'm going for the hard pruning direct,but I've just skimmed through the pruning section and everybody seems to be against it.I have also gathered that hard pruning will delay flowering,so it's the complete opposite of hard deadheading.I have noticed that lightly pruned plants become "dead" below the point where they are pruned,the wood has no leaves,definitely no buds.My roses had buds way lower last year in spring,but I went for the light pruning.This year they have buds way higher than last year and a good portion of the canes remains without any sign of life.What frightens me is this:if I continue to prune lightly,will my roses end up being half "dead wood" after a few years,with buds sprouting higher and higher?I should perhaps mention that I do not prune my roses at all in late autumn.Sorry I couldn't be more concise in framing my questions,thank you in advance for taking the time to wade through my post! ps-Does anyone here prune Noisette climbers(Lamarque,to be more precise)hard in the spring?

I am brand new to growing roses and have a major question: I have two climbing roses that I have neglected for years and mis-pruned. They are both basically a 7' high, naked trunk, 1 inch in diameter with a one "cane" at the top, with several branches coming haphazardly from the top. I want to begin transforming them into two productive climbers. They are still blooming in this coldish Virginia late fall. Does it make sense to cut them down to 2 or 3 feet so they will sprout canes from the base of the plants that I can then work with or should I bend the trunk over and leave them as is and hope that if I prune with more skill more canes will grow from the bent over trunk? One is a Don Juan and the other a beautiful yellow rose of unknown name. I would love help. Thanks in advance.