skip to main content

How do you get rid of a giant rose bush?

9 years ago

There are 2 humongous pink rose bushes on our new home, and I don't like them. How would we get rid of them without shredding ourselves?

Featured Answer

bart_2010

9 years ago

You don't need to use poison (Roundup) !!!!! If you can't dig it up ,or don't want to, or can't pay someone to do it, you can still cut it back and just cover it up with either :thick cardboard covered with mulch, or black plastic. Why in earth use poison?

Comments (9)

Kippy
9 years ago
Do you have better photos of the plants? Up closer.

If so, post and find out what you have. You might find some one locally wants that type of rose. You could easy cut off canes from the one you want to remove and share them via Craigslist. Once you only have the root ball left it is pretty easy.
michaelg
9 years ago
Digging a big rose plant is a lot of work, and roots that are left may sprout again, so I'd take a different approach. Use welder's gauntlets and a long-handled lopper to cut it down to 6" stubs. You may need a saw for stems over 1". Paint the stubs promptly with full-strength Roundup. It may try to sprout again once or twice. If so, cut back another inch and paint the fresh-cut surface. After it is dead, cut the stumps down to ground level.
Related Discussions
How do I get an old climbing rose bush to bloom?
Q
Comments (6)
Hi Kathy Could you post a picture? Canes, leafs and growth can tell a lot about a rose. You can safely prune out old dead wood, and old canes you don't want to keep, but the ones you keep must not be shortened by more than a 1/4, perhaps a 1/3 of the length. When once bloomers get very old and old canes have not regularly been pruned out, they might not take very well to pruning at all. Another thing than can inhibits a rose from forming buds is lack of sunlight. Trees and bushes might have grown too tall or dense over the years, and the rose has ended up in full shade all day. An old neglected rose will all ways respond well to good care, and if you don't do anything else, clean up all weeds around the rose and give it generous amounts of fertilizer. There a lots of brands to choose from, even especially made for roses. If it looks like it needs something extra to get it going, the organic liquid types with seaweed and other good stuff are really good. Give it a few buckets of fertilizer dissolved in water and apply in a fairly large radius, about as far as the roots spread. Moving a rose will set the plant back for a time, and it will probably do much better next year. Good luck with your rose, it probably just needs a bit of care :-)
...See More
How do I get rid of this rose??
Q
Comments (8)
Cut it down freshly again, and immediately paint the stump with full-strength Roundup concentrate (or use a small bottle like travel sizes come in to dribble it onto the stump). This way you have no chance of herbicide drift as if you sprayed the leaves. I use this method on mulberry trees that appear everywhere all summer long around here. Kills them very dead. While others are fighting the proverbial "mulberry bush" (because 12 stems spring up from the single one you cut), I have no worries.
...See More
How do you get rid of a rose that just won't go away?
Q
Comments (19)
Heh. Michael, if you can remove oxalis from inside your roses with Roundup and not kill the roses, you should be cutting diamonds instead of growing roses. I don't know who you people are, who can use Roundup and not kill or maim something you're trying to save. Every time I touch the stuff there's a mishap. The only thing I can safely spray is poison oak acres away from everything else. Anything else, and it doesn't matter whether I use a tiny paint brush or a sprayer with a cup over the nozzle to direct the overspray, the brush falls on a plant, the dogs knock over the tank, the solution splashes on my goggles, the cup drips, something bad happens. I get the message. I'm doomed.
...See More
How do you get rid of bamboo?
Q
Comments (10)
Our neighbor has passed away over the summer and the new owners of the house have told us they are getting rid of all of the bamboo. He said he doesn't care if he has to dig up every square inch of the yard. He won't stop till its all gone. Apparently he hates the stuff as much as we do. My husband offered to help him out. So come spring its digging time and the end of the bamboo forest!!! Yeah!!!! All of the neighbors are thrilled that after all these years the bamboo is finally getting dug up. This stuff has ruined 7 properties. It not only spread to 2 yards to the side (on each side) of the property but to 3 properties directly behind it. As soon as one of us sees a sprout we try to get right on it and dig it up but you know there are times when sprouts are missed, neighbor is sick or goes away for a few weeks and before you know it you have another big tall patch of the annoying stuff. Since the main source of the bamboo was never taken care of it just keeps getting out of control. I'm sure even after the neighbors yard is completely dug up we'll still see an occasional straggler. But it shouldn't take long to rid all yards of this nuisance once the main source is gone.
...See More
dublinbay z6 (KS)
9 years ago
Get someone with a pick-up (and a strong bumper) to come over, back it up reasonably close to the rose, tie a chain or very strong rope to the bumper and around the base of the rose (after you have trimmed off all the top branches in about 1-2 ft lengths to be disposed of), and drive forward slow but steady to pull it out along with most of its roots. Now you can chop/saw it up some more into smaller, easily disposable pieces.

You might have to repair the lawn a bit in a few places afterwards, but that is easy compared to digging up an old well-established big rose.

I've never done that with a rose, but that is how we dislodged a stubborn Crepe myrtle tree/very tall bush--and that thing did not want to let go of the ground!

(Don't worry--we dropped it into a big pre-dug hole at the back of the property, watered it generously--nearly excessively, in fact--and it is still growing and blooming 8 years later.)

Kate
boncrow66
9 years ago
Maybe you could just cut it down to a more manageable size, I think it is really beautiful but it's not my house :).
toolbelt68
9 years ago
Why not create a new entrant walkway, starting just to the left of the bush (under the word TRIM in the picture)? Make it a nice smooth reversed S shape. Then make a nice flower bed in place of the old walkway.

Just cover the ground under the rose you want to remove with a lot of mulch so grass canÃ¢ÂÂt grow there, then place a row of nice looking bricks around the outer edge. Those bushes are just too darn pretty to remove or hack up.

That's my vote..... You did ask for a vote, right? Ooops....lol
bart_2010
9 years ago
Actually, my first thought was to agree with Toolbelt;why get rid of such a fine rose? lol, bart
buford
9 years ago
michael is right. Get a pair of long handled loppers and start chopping. It's the fastest way. You may even find that after you lop off a lot of top growth, you want to keep both rose bushes. They look very healthy, but are a bit overgrown.

Painting RU on a stump is not going to poison anything (except the stump of course) You can try to dig up the root ball, but if that is not possible, RU can help.
tigerloveroses
9 years ago
There is no justice.i would love beautiful rose bushes like that,yet mine will take years to become this magnificent beauty...and here you are,and they are a pest to you:(. I wish I could have that rose.would have gladly put in the hours to dig it up and transplant it

Sign Up to Comment

Related Stories

EDIBLE GARDENS Natural Ways to Get Rid of Weeds in Your Garden

By Abundant City

Use these techniques to help prevent the spread of weeds and to learn about your soil

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Plants That Beat Butterfly Bush for the Wildlife Draw

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

It's invasive, a nonnative and a poor insect magnet. Check out these better alternatives to butterfly bush in the garden

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Get Along With Less Lawn — Ideas to Save Water and Effort

By Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Ditch the mower and lower your water bill while creating a feast for the eyes with diverse plantings and gathering places

SAVING WATER Xeriscape Gardens: How to Get a Beautiful Landscape With Less Water

By Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Conserve water and make gardening much easier with the xeriscape approach’s 7 principles

GARDENING GUIDES How to Get Your Prairie On

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Have a field day with your landscape, even if you've got just a few modern containers on a paved path

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Knock Out Roses

By J. Peterson Garden Design

As glorious as their high-maintenance kin for a fraction of the work, Knock Out roses make even beginners look like garden stars

WINTER GARDENING Pruning Secrets for Exquisite Roses

By Annie Thornton

Encourage gorgeous blooms year after year with this time-tested advice on how to prune your rosebush in winter for health and shape

GARDENING GUIDES Learn the Secret to Bigger and Better Roses

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Grow beautiful roses using both ordinary and unusual soil amendments

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Captivating Roses for an Alluringly Fragrant Garden

By J. Peterson Garden Design

Perfume your garden with aromas from richly spicy to lightly sweet, without sacrificing an inch of color

GARDENING GUIDES 5 Favorite White Roses for a Purely Beautiful Garden

By J. Peterson Garden Design

How does your garden glow? With roses that look like light and smell divine

Sponsored

T. Walton Carr, Architects

Franklin County's Preferred Architectural Firm | Best of Houzz Winner

More Discussions

I rubbed one Off -Hidden Dormant Buds on Old Growth

8

Recommendations for a mass impact rose

25

Is Popcorn thornless?

6

TLC for bare roots in dry summer of zone 9B, NorCal, Sunset 15.

6

Did my shrub make a baby?

3