A Wall of Warmth — and a Few Tricky Corners

Nothing says British cottage garden quite like a rose scrambling over brick. In a mews courtyard, where every wall is close and the ground is limited, it is one of the best uses of the space you have. Brick soaks up sunshine through the day and releases it slowly into the evening, creating a warm microclimate that roses adore — a south- or west-facing wall can bring flowering forward by two or three weeks.

There are catches. Walls cast a rain shadow, so the soil at the base of a house stays bone dry while the rest of the garden is sodden. And a mews is rarely still: it acts as a wind tunnel between two brick flanks. Get the planting and the tying right, and both problems shrink to nothing.

Choosing a Rose for a Small Space

Know the difference before you buy. Ramblers throw out long, whip-like growth and usually flower once, gloriously, in midsummer — lovely, but most will swallow a mews façade whole. Climbers are more restrained, with stiffer stems and, often, repeat flowering from June into autumn. In a compact courtyard, a climber that settles at around 2.5 to 3 metres is the sensible choice.

• Choose repeat-flowering varieties with good scent — you will walk past it constantly.
• Cream, blush pink and soft apricot read beautifully against red brick and lift a shaded courtyard.
• Growing in a pot? Pick a modest climber and use a container at least 45cm across.
• Avoid anything described as vigorous or rampant. In a mews it will be at the eaves before you have finished reading the label.

Planting: Set It Out, Not Against

The commonest mistake is planting tight against the wall. Set the rose 40 to 45cm away from the brick and train the stems back towards it, so the roots sit in ground that actually receives rain.

Bare-root roses go in between November and March; container-grown ones at any time except when the ground is frozen or parched. Dig a hole about 45cm wide and 40cm deep, fork the base, and mix in a bucket of well-rotted manure with a handful of grit if your soil is heavy clay. Spread the roots, set the bud union — the knobbly join near the base — roughly 5cm below the soil surface, then backfill, firm gently and water well. Finish with a 5cm mulch of compost, kept clear of the stem.

Train Them Horizontally — This Is the Whole Trick

Here is the piece of knowledge that turns a decent rose into a spectacular one. Roses flower most freely on growth that is growing sideways rather than upwards. Sap rising through a vertical cane mostly keeps going, so you get blooms at the top and bare stems below. Bend that same cane towards horizontal and the flow slows, buds break along its whole length, and each one throws a flowering shoot.

So build a fan of near-horizontal stems. Screw vine eyes into the brick at 30 to 40cm intervals, run horizontal wires between them, and allow three or four tiers — the lowest about 45cm above ground. Tie the main canes along the wires, spread out like the ribs of a fan, and let the flowering side shoots rise from them. Where space is very tight, spiral one cane around a pillar or arch it over a doorway instead.

Young, flexible canes will bend down in one go. Older, woody ones snap, so bring them lower over several weeks, tying a little further each time.

Tie Loose, Because the Wind Will Find You

Mews courtyards funnel wind. A south-westerly gale that merely ruffles a hedge will accelerate between two brick walls and shake a rose to its roots. Tight ties are the enemy: they hold stems rigid, so canes rub against wire or brick and the bark wears through.

• Use soft jute, cotton twine or proper rose ties — never bare wire.
• Tie in a figure-of-eight, wire in one loop and stem in the other, so nothing chafes.
• Leave enough slack for the stem to move a hand's width in a gust.
• Check the ties after every gale, and again in late autumn, replacing any that have frayed.

Watering, Feeding and Keeping It Tidy

Under an eaves line, rain rarely reaches the roots, so water deeply twice a week in dry spells — a full can per plant, poured slowly at the base. Feed with rose fertiliser in March as growth begins and again in July after the first flush. Deadhead regularly, cutting back to a strong leaf, to keep flowers coming.

Prune in late winter: shorten last year's side shoots to two or three buds, cut out dead or crossing wood, and tie in a new cane or two horizontally to replace the oldest. In summer, resist the secateurs and simply tuck wayward growth along the wires. In an exposed courtyard, shorten long whippy growth by a third in autumn so the wind has less to catch — then let the wall do the rest.