I do it all the time and never have a problem. If the first rose had a serious disease or died in its spot, I probably would not, at least not until I had addressed the problem in some manner. I have been told that there is some question about the existence of rose replant disease even in Europe. While the problem does indeed occur, some think it is a result of certain fertilizing practices rather than an actual disease. No specific disease causing organism has been identified. Perhaps someone with more direct knowledge than I have will speak up. Rosefolly

It's never been a problem in my area, and we have certainly removed roses, and replanted in the same location. (OTOH, EVERYTHING we plant here must be planted in a nursery squat pot in the ground -- with many holes drilled. If not, gophers will eat the roots.) I would be VERY dubious about the cardboard box thing. Here's why: Some years ago, there was a big promotion of nursery pots made of compressed cardboard. You could plant a bare-root in the pot, and grow it up -- THEN plant it, pot and all. The idea of it was that once-underground, the pot would disintegrate, and the roots would push out. In practice, what happened was, the pot did not disintegrate AT ALL. When some roses failed to thrive, we dug down, and found that the roots were just swirled-around inside their cardboard prison. What a mess! Jeri Coastal Ventura Co., SoCal

According to the Royal Horticultural Society here, and I take it they would be up to date on the issue... ''It is believed to be caused by a build-up of soil pests and pathogens during the life of the first planting. Fungal root diseases and nematodes (eelworms) are favourite suspects.... ...........The best evidence in favour of this theory is that the problem is eliminated by soil sterilisation, suggesting a biological cause.'' ...it's not a huge problem for us home gardeners as we have several work arounds, already described, if we are vigilant enough... although I've never tried the box route - never seem to have boxes handy... ..but for commercial growers, I notice around here where there are several rose fields in use, after digging them all up for sale in the autumn, they move to the next field which may be just across the road, for the following season, then another and another in following seasons. I'm not sure how many years pass before they return to a field previously used for this purpose. One thing I also agree with the RHS on is that if you plant a rose then after just a few months decide to remove it for whatever reason, and plant another in its place straight away, the 2nd rose can suffer replant disorder. I've found that to be the case too.

I notice this a lot and I have 2 roses at the moment that I know just are not being themselves as I moved them during the winter to positions previously occupied by other roses, which don't have to have been in the ground all that long either. A few months is enough to sort of poison it. I have found it takes a full growing season or about 12 months before the new roses revert to how they should be. They grow and bloom somewhat but they show signs of languishing, lacking vigour. The use of M. Fungi helps a lot but I don't always have a supply of it and I'm not going to the woods to dig any up. I replaced 3 more roses recently and used M. Fungi each time, so as of now they are looking alright. It's something I can notice quite soon after planting if it's affected, the rose just cannot be itself despite all the help I can give it. All on Laxa of course.