Moving Rose

TryMyBest · Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject: Moving Rose

Hi All,

I am working on my garden for the first time. The previous owner obviously loved roses. I'd say there is easily 30 rose plants in the garden. The one thing I never wanted in my garden was roses as they need so much care. Anyway since they are there already, I'm going to try look after them.

Most the roses are at each side of the drive. However, there are 3 rose bushes that I would like to move. I know that all pruning should be done before Paddy's day and I have that done. Could I lift the roses from their current position at this time of the year and would I cause much damage if I replanted them into a pot until next October?

Sorry if I am shocking any rose gardners.

Advice appreciated

Michael196 · Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:27 pm Post subject:

I guess they might survive if moved now, but it is late, they will be growing etc, it is risky by now.

Liparis · Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject:

They're better not put into containers if they are hybrid T's, they won't like it much. The real answer lies in how long they have been in their current position. A few years and most of the root will be woody material with fibre roots quite a distance away. They might not take kindly to moving at any time of the year.
Bill.

TryMyBest · Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:38 am Post subject:

Thanks Michael196 and Liparis.

I'm not sure what they are. I'm not much of a gardener. One of them is very pretty. Its a yellow rose with pinky petals in the middle. Smells fab.

I think I'll leave them where they are and try and work round them. I'll move them later in the year.

Michael196 · Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:19 pm Post subject:

safe time for moving is dec to begining of march

Sarah Evans · Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:38 pm Post subject:

Would have to agree with the last post in that the best time to move them is November to March and preferably while dormant.

TryMyBest · Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:50 pm Post subject:

Thanks again to all of ye. I was looking at the roses in question yesterday and I've decided to wait until after November to move them. I can live with them where they are for another few months.

Thanks!

walltoall

TryMyBest
Roses are NOT rocket science. They just need to be treated right! During this year take snaps of the flowers on the three roses you are going to move come winter. Smell the roses as they come to give you an idea of their personalities. Some roses have almost no scent. Others are out of this world, Note just when each of the three start budding and when the first and last flowers appear. By September you'll be a rose expert and a rose lover.

When the last rose fades on the three you want to move, maybe November, cut all the branches down to about 9 inches. Scrape away surface debris from the stem and scratch away maybe an inch of soil til you can clearly see the 'above ground' and 'below ground' parts of the stem. You may notice a 'knob' much fatter than the rest of the stem. It 's important to identify that knob, because it MUST end up above ground after the move.

Dig back the soil around the rose about a spade depth leaving a lump of ground with the roots of the rose in it. Now dig under that lump and take out the rose, the roots, the ball of soil and drop it in a prepared hole. You can gauge the size of hole you need by looking at the one you just made in taking out the rose. Oh! It really does not matter if you lose soil from the roots. Indeed experts will shake off all the soil and plant it 'bare-rooted' but you are new to what will become a lifetime interest.

I never bother with the oul guff about putting lots of well-rotted manure in the bottom of the hole, but whatever you're having yourself'll do me. Once the rose is in and positioned and back-filled, double check that the swelling of the stem is above ground but only just. There is a very technical reason for getting this right but I ain't going to blind you with rosy science. Under no circumstances 'water it in'. I keep seeing that totally wrong advice being passed on. It does not work for roses and could drown them. I've never watered a rose in my life.

Now just walk away from the re-plants and wait til they bud and flower in 2010. They will! Trust me. Generally about 16th May in my experience. The stubby little branches will start putting out shoots late April. Generally the shoots should be purplish though not always. However, any shoot that is not clearly ABOVE the swollen part of the stem must be rubbed out immediately. I'll tell you why in June 2010 if I'm still alive.

TryMyBest · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:27 pm Post subject:

walltoall,

Thanks for the moving advice. Very interesting and sounds so simple. I'll be sure to refer to it again at the end of the year when I moving them.

Thanks again.