Transplanting old rose bushes

kelli1993

15 years ago

We moved into our home a year ago. We're lucky that the prior owner was an expert gardener, leaving us many rose bushes & unusual perennials.

I have 3 rose bushes behind my shed that may be 15 - 20 years old. They're very large, obscured, and end up mostly on my not-too-friendly neighbor's property.

I would like to move them in fall, and give 2 to my mother.

What can you recommend would be the best way to relocate them with the best chance of their survival?

Thank you in advance.

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Comments (4)

taoseeker
15 years ago
When large and old roses have to be moved the experts cut of the roots in a radius about the size of the root ball they are going to let the plant keep, about a month before it is to be dug up. They sort of saw, very deeply, a circle around the plant much the same way they treat a tree that are to be moved.

It is also a good idea to give the roses some kind of fertilizer that stimulates root growth during the summer to make the rose fit to grow new roots. Roses grow roots in fall, then they have much stronger growth under ground than above. When bare root roses are available in fall in your area it is the right time to transplant. Then there is time for the plant to settle in before winter. Bone meal can be beneficial to sprinkle in the new planting hole.
dan_keil_cr Keil
15 years ago
You may find that the rose may be on it's own roots as well as the grafted roots. A friend of mine in another rose society had some roses given to the club because the man had died. When he went to dig them he was surprized how big the root ball was.
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Moving it to dappled, but not direct sun, is definitely the way to go. You might also consider covering it with a white sheet or some white tee shirts and keeping them moist for a few weeks to help rehydrate the canes. Removing the foliage, all of the foliage, and cutting off any shriveling, soft or new growth is good advice, too. Until it begins pushing new buds and growth, keep the canes moist by either loosely wrapping them with the sheet or tee shirts and watering the fabric once or twice a day, or misting the plant every few hours. Anything you can do to keep the plant damp, cool and on the dark side until new roots are formed will help. You call it a "rose bush tree". Are you meaning a bush or a tree rose? If it's a tree rose, wrapping the trunk in cloth then loosely covering the head with white sheeting and keeping them all on the damper side will help. For a regular bush, just draping the cloth around the plant and keeping it damp will do the same thing. It's a bit more difficult with a tree rose due to the size and fact that trunk can easily sun burn. Once burned, it is dead and all growth which depends upon the circulatory system which has been killed will also die. Good luck! Kim
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I would remove a lot of the old gray wood next March--cut the canes at the ground or at the graft if one is visible. Hopefully it will respond by making some strong shoots from the ground. It looks like this rose is best grown as a climber with all the strong shoots fastened to the fence. Tie them rather than weaving through the lattice. Create a fan pattern by leading the first canes low and almost horizontal, the next in a low arc above the first, etc. Having lots of cane nearly horizontal (or 45 degrees) will greatly increase the amount of bloom. Most roses have canes that are best trained after they have grown well out and become fibrous. Then they will bend without breaking. After it begins to get crowded again, remove a fraction of the oldest canes each year at the base, Do the main pruning in June after blooming to maximize the amount of bloom. You can also remove the stronger laterals (strong secondary shoots off the main canes) unless you need them to fill in. Cut the shorter laterals back to 2-3 leaves after blooming. The spots visible in pics 6 and 7 are blackspot disease, but the plant must be somewhat resistant or it would be defoliated by now. The foliage appears to be of modern type. The hooked thorns suggest the parentage includes climbing species. You can show us blooms and buds next May.
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Here mulberries come up on their own and I just chopped down about 6 that just came up a couple weeks ago next to my basement door. They were already taller than me. We thought we had killed it, but apparently it was just waiting. For the rose, it is hard to tell by the leaves, but they require at least 6 hours of sun to bloom. It may not have bloomed because it was overshadowed by the mulberry. Since the rose is coming back with a vengeance with revenge in its heart, it could be a multiflora, especially since it spreads like bubonic plague. I think the leaf count is off for that, but not sure. Unfortunately you will probably have to wait until it blooms to get an ID. Where are you located? Here in my area roses will be blooming until November or December. If it is a reblooming rose, you may get blooms this year.
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Just do it. If they were growing fine where they were, they will be happiest if you don't change anything you don't have to change. No keeping them "warm inside," for example. Just dig a hole that is at least big enough for the main roots and then go for it. First cut the plant back severely to just a couple of canes that are a couple of feet long. Keep the youngest, best canes. No flowers, and you don't need much in the way of leaves. You are cutting the feeder roots mostly off, so you are best to give it a chance to grow them back before they have to support flowers, but that happens fast, couple of months in the new place. And then, before you try to lift it out, cut the roots around the plant in a circle about the size of the hole that you are going to by jabbing the shovel blade down into the soil in a circle all the way around the rose. Then pick the rose up with two shovels (think chopsticks) and just get it from one place to the next in a bucket or something without time to dry out between, and keeping as much of the original dirt as you can. Roses are tough. They'll be fine. I also would not amend the soil. If you have roughly the same soil as where they were, just go with that. Do check the drainage where you are putting them. After you dig the hole, fill it with water. If the water is no longer standing in the hold at 30 minutes, you are fine. If you still have water after 30 minutes, choose a different place to put the rose. Here's a video that might help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZ-iE-34aA Kathy
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jbcarr
15 years ago
When they go dormant in late winter when the ground is not frozen, I would cut them back to a manageable size for ease of moving. Then dig a big root ball. I find one good way to do it is get a handled bushel container from the big boxes, then dig a root ball that will fit that. The handles will assist sliding it on the ground. Use a shovel to cut around the root ball. If it has real big roots, use a small pruning saw. Don't worry if you lose some dirt from the root ball. A hand truck is very useful to move the container. You may lose a year of blooms if it is a climber that blooms on old wood. They are surprisingly hardy, and tolerate less than perfect technique. Be sure to have a good site ready, and water well.
Jean Marion (z6a Idaho)
15 years ago
I've had better luck moving plants in the spring...

I would cut down all of the canes to about 12" in the fall. Then come the spring as new little buds start to appear (you have to watch daily) Dig them up and plop them into their predug holes... Water well, mulch well and within a month it should be like they were always in their new home...

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Transplanting old rose bushes

Comments (4)

taoseeker

dan_keil_cr Keil

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jbcarr

Jean Marion (z6a Idaho)

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