Trellis for climbing roses?

Hi everyone, I'm *kinda* new in gardening, as I've only been in my house for the past 2.5 years and no garden before then outside of a bunch of indoor plants...

Anyways, I have some climbers, and I want MORE climbers. But, what do I need for supports for them? for a climber that is supposed to get 8', I'd think a 6' trellis would work out. But what about those that say they could get 10'? 12'? 20'? How in the WORLD do you support those monsters??? I'm putting a few just along my 6' fense and training it along in both directions, but others I have on my house. Yes, I have a few years to really worry about this (I hope!) since I just planted some last year and the rest are going in within the next 6 weeks... But I would like to plan ahead and make sure the support system is in place or at least PLANNED before it is needed.

I have a 1 year old New Dawn, a Zepherine, Candy Land, Purple Splash, Night Owl... and then a bunch coming. Yeah. Help? My pergola already is having my wisteria take over, so that's not much of an option (with how my house is set up, and lighting). Fortunately I have REALLY nice sunny areas for these guys.

Thank you!

ps - my house is aluminum sided, so it would be very tough to attach things to the house itself. :( Which, brings the options down considerably.

I have the same problem. We have been in our house for three years now and have climbing rose, passion flower, honeysuckle, ect. but not a lot of options. We have a solid wood fence and have considered screwing the normal wooden trellis to the side to have more space for the vines but I know the rose I have will get massive and be to heavy for something like that.
I do have the idea of antenna tower... It's what my mother used (because my father was in that business back before there was satellite) and her roses and vines grew up through the middle and out the top like freestanding fountains. Very pretty. Just an idea...

That's not a bad idea! Hmmmm.... Even black metal pipe might work.

I was actually considering putting in BIG wood posts about 8-10' apart, and put 1x2" slats between them as a trellis - about 12" square would give enough spacing to solidify the structure as well as space to tie the canes to.... But I'm wondering what people usually do!

For non-massive plants, your towers would work great. Heck, even 2-3 for honeysuckle once it grows a bit should be OK! But not for a New Dawn I think.... that's gonna be HUGE. Eventually, at least. ;)

Luckily I have a couple years to figure this all out.

Just because it can reach 20' high, you do not need to have a 20' high support. A 20' long support is just fine. Up 5-6' fence, then grow sideways.

Just cannot put them too close. If you have 100' of fence, do not put more than about 10 vines on that, and then only if you can keep them under control. They will pile on top of each other and make a really big mess.
If you do not have quite so much time to keep pruning them, then there would only be room for about 5 vines on that fence.

Think REALLY hard before allowing vines to grow against the house. Some are very invasive in terms of sending shoots into any little crack in the siding or structure, then tearing the house apart. A vine that grows as an annual is probably the safest- frost will kill it each year, so you can clean it off the house before it gets out of hand.

Thanks for the suggestions, Diana. I totally was unclear with quite a bit, tho - I put it in the title, but not in the message. *sigh* Whoops.

:) They are roses - climbing roses, not various other vines. I made that mistake as a teenager with morning glories that got in the garage attic and then the attic where my parent's room was at our house, 3 stories off the ground! Yeah, didn't do so much the next year with them...

I'm in a residential neighborhood, so I do have SOME fence which I already am using for other climbing plants (clemantis, honeysuckle, and a few smaller roses), and I have a pergola for two young wisteria and a couple smaller climbing roses at my back patio. But, I have three climbing roses on the sides of my house (which are blank and no windows! they need SOMETHING there ;) )that can get "massive" 15'+ - New Dawn, Zepharine D., and Blaze (along with my other climbing roses, which are a bit more managible at 8-12 feet generally and not a mile-wide spread). THOSE? Yeah, those are giving me some trouble with the ideas. I put all three in last year with some plans, which I realize just won't work in any way (I didn't really put it on paper, just in my head - so I didn't think logistics too much about stability and size issues).

I did come up with another idea today, though, semi-based off of swing sets. The A-frame sides? Use those, but put one leg straight up and down to support against the house. Connect some crossbraces between the two/three "A"s and add smaller pieces to that to tie the rose canes to as it climbs upwards. Also put a verticle brace in the middle of the A's crossbeam, and bottom supports that can be anchored into the ground in stratigic areas. With pressure-treated wood that is then sealed against the weather every 2 years, it should last a LONG time. :) (between the two As, put a bottom beam at each lower corner, one at the top, and at least one at the middle. place lattice-type pieces onto the back for tying to, or other ideas depending on how you want it to look.)

But, the question is, how tall of a support would such roses NEED?

I have seen Blaze climb up one side of a 3- car garage, over the door and meet up with some other rose (it wasn't red) climbing from the other side. The two of them completely covered the wall above the garage door about 4' high and 30' long.

Simplest structure is something you mentioned earlier: 4 x 4 posts 8' apart and add a grid to tie the roses. I would go with something heavier than 1 x 1, though. Perhaps 2 x 4 top and bottom and a 12" x 12" (or even 16" apart) grid of 2 x 2 in the middle. You won't be able to paint it after the roses grow all over it.

Here's what I'm using for trellis material lately. If you have farm supply store nearby they sell what is known as horse fence panels. They can be several sizes but I think I one I get is about 16' x 5'. They are galvanized metal and can be bent into an arbor easy enough and still be solid enough for roses or passion vine in my case. The one I bought cost me $30, but will last a long time and I like the idea I can add on if need be in the future.
Here's a picture I found online:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/horse-fence-panel-5-ft-x-16-ft

I have know Blaze to grow politely on trellises, up fences, up & over small buildings,... but NOT New Dawn. New Dawn is like a fast growing toddler - it will overtake and overwhelm any sunny spot with no remorse. I own a New Dawn and I gave up on trellising it during its first season. It is a thorny mess of giant-canes and everything that is still growing beneath it. It is also magnificent in its wildness a pile of chaotic blush blooms with the occasional salvia peaking out from underneath. If you're dedicated you might be able to contain it, but I think you'd end up doing more pruning than you had in mind.

I am using the same as Domehomedee, but I don't have them bent into an arbor, just going straight up, the long way. I sank rebar into the ground about three feet - they are never coming out - then attached the cattle panels to them. I use three rebar posts for a five foot width.

So glad you liked the idea.