Oh Anne, I know just how you feel - like when I had to dig out my beloved Constance Spry when RMV had weakened her to the point of being non-productive. I have removed the soil from the area where I've removed a rose with crown gall, replaced it with fresh soil, and had the new rose do just fine.
So sorry about Odense - you must treat yourself to a rose you've wanted for a long time!

Don't hesitate to replant there. The bacteria are widely distributed in the environment anyway. Avoid pruning the roots before planting anywhere in the garden. Be alert for aerial galls that may form on canes as the result of pruning last year or this spring. Disinfect pruners with Lysol.

I thought the gall was always in the soil, and it would infect the rose through an injury - from pruning, storm damage, or critters (big and small) around the rose.

Sammy

My experience is that if your roses are planted deep in good composty soil you can have a lot of gall and not know it. The easiest thing is to suspect gall if a strong performing rose goes into decline. Dig carefully at the base and you very likely will find a gall wrapped around the graft and/or the cane close to the surface but further down of course depending on how much you mulch. I have found them as big as baseballs. What to do? I cut them off as completely as possible without disturbing the rose and the rose generally comes right back almost as if nothing had happened. You must then check the rose from then on because the gall will come back but they are very slow growing. Generally it is also to good to look for gall on a regular basis when you happen to be poking around or whatever. So far I have never lost a rose to gall that I know of and some of my best roses have had to be rescued from gall.

I've had roses in severe decline fron crown gall. In the majority of cases I've been able to save them.
I dig them up so surgery is easier. On a newspaper or a plastic sheet I remove the gall carefull cutting away a thin portion of tissue where it was attached. I treat the wound with Neosporin or a generic antibacterial ointment, (crown gall is a bacteria, isn't it)?
If any gall pieces have come off in the soil while removing the bush, I put a couple of cups of bleach in five gallons of water and drench the soil where it was planted. I then replant or pot the bush to observe it's recovery. The bushes treated this way have done well. I've never had gall recurrance on them. Care must be taken to avoid mechanical damage to the canes, roots, or graft, especially where the graft is buried. Insect bites, vole nibbling. or cultivator damage can also be areas of bacteria entry.
Yes the bacteria is prevalent in the soil. My bleach drenching just gives the plant time to heal a little before the bacteria come back to the area.

It is easy to take off a gall. You can reach down with your hands and break most of it off with your fingers and use a pairing knife to trim off anything that is left. When I suspect there is a gall I just reach down with my hand and feel around for it. You will know immediately when you find one.

But when you break off a gall you would be shedding the bacteria into the soil.

Michael. Trust me it doesn't matter. Gall is a very minor problem hardly even worth thinking about. It is naturally occurring and very slow growing. Well established roses are barely fazed by it but you should know when to suspect it and how to look for it. When you occasionally find a big one that has noticeably affected the rose pinch it off and the rose will snap back. You cannot dig up well established roses just to cut off a gall. One more thing. Sometimes on a big rose where you have separate parts but all still attached you will see most of it thriving but one part failing. Chances are that part has a gall.

So gross looking!

Interesting!

Now I'll be looking down under for galls on my several roses that are just sitting there!

Thank you everyone for your input on this - I needed more info than the quick search I made yesterday after my discovery and you all came through for me as I knew you would. I will definitely re-plant a rose in that spot - and keep an eye out so I can try the 'remove the gall and save the rose' techniques if it becomes necessary in future. Poor Odense City was just too far gone to save, I think, and I feel that I did the right thing in disposing of it. I see that Hortico sells it, so I can replace it next year if I choose.
From now on when I water and fuss over the roses during the year I'll be checking the base of the canes, too! Live and learn.

Anne