I have a friend in Atlanta, GA who just got an own root Lady Banks from a friend. She doesn't have a lot of space in her yard and is wondering if she can keep it hard pruned or not. Can She keep it smaller or does it need to grow big?

Lady Banks wants to grow BIG. Left to its own devices, it can take over the yard. Theoretically, she could keep it severely cut back, but it would destroy the natural grace and fountain structure of it—the canes want to grow 10, 12+ feet a year. Because it blooms on the previous year's growth, there is a brief window from right after bloom (mid April in my area) to roughly midsummer when it can be cut back without sacrificing next year's bloom. In my experience, trying to keep it within limited bounds is a constant hassle and results in an ugly butchered shrub. It can be lovely in the right space, but it needs a lot of it.

They use them here in California to cover entire banks along the side of the freeways. While it is a pretty rose, it is a house eater rose.

The only way to control Lady Banks is to hard prune to about 3 to 4 feet off the ground after flowering

this one, as shown in picture, is about 9 feet tall - each of those boards in the background are about 6" wide (left to right = about 7 feet)

picture was taken March 31 2004 - today it is about half as big as what you see .... last year was hard pruned to about 3' leaving only main trunks (February record low temps, ice storm and snow had no effect)

Thank you! I've let her know what you all think. Now it's her choice.