Moving Establised Rose Bush

[ninnymary]

I have a rose bush called "Secret" that is just beautiful and always looks so healthy with beautiful roses. My problem is that we created a veggie garden around it. It is not very convenient to harvest veggies with it in the middle, so I would like to move it.

It is about 7 yrs. old. Will it survive a move? If so, when should I move it? (Our weather is always mild here.)

Any tips on what to do or how to do it?

Mary

 

[obsessed]

I will wait intently for an answer!

 

[Warthog]

Well this is my thought, bear in mind I have NEVER actually done it.

Give the rose you want to move a good watering.

Prepare the ground where to are going to put it, dig a large hole, put in plenty of good quality compost, move the plant, put it in at the same level and water well. Not knowing what your climate is like I would water at least once a day until you can see it is established and happy in its new home.

I would also tend to make the move at a cooler time of day, evening perhaps.

JMHO

 

[silkiechicken]

Here in the PNW, we always just waited for the plants to go dormant, and moved them in the fall after all the leaves fell off. I'd pick a time to move it when it is not actively growing or actively flowering as those times are tough on the plant.
As for survival. We have this one hybrid tea rose plant which we tried to move, and have moved a few times over the past 15 years or so, and every time we move it, we spend a few years trying to get rid of where it was moved from. LOL

Oh, and I don't really have tips for the moving process. All we did was wait for plant to die back, lop off branches we didn't want, took a shovel and dug the plant up, and shoved plant in new hole... we didn't add water, becuase fall, winter, spring, and half of summer is usually pretty soggy in the PNW.

 

[bid]

Let it go dormant like silkiechicken said. Late fall or early spring are good times to try and transplant. Personally I always prefer late fall as we tend to have wet winters and so not a whole lot of watering. Just keep it watered for several weeks after you move it so the roots don't dry out. You might also loosely tie the canes up so you aren't a pin cushion while you are trying to move it!

 

[obsessed]

What if it doesn't go dormant? Should I still wait for as late in fall as I can? Will I need to provide extra protection in the winter?

 

[bid]

Well let me see if I can make sense here. Technically you can transplant anytime. The problem (IMO) is temperature extremes and shock. What I look for is moderate temperatures and moderate differences in highs and lows. Rules of thumb are good starting points, but you need to take into account your weather trends. If you know October is a traditionally dry month in your area and November is a wetter month in terms of rainfall, wait till November to transplant. The same goes for temperature swings. Another reason I prefer fall for transplanting is that I can have 40 -45 degree swings in January and February.

As far as not going dormant, well they may not go dormant in the sense that plants in a more northern climate do, but they will certainly slow down in putting on new growth.

Rules of thumb for me:
Get as much of the root ball as you can;
You are going to cut some roots, unless you happen to have a back hoe handy, don't stress out over it;
Keep new transplants well watered for a month or so if Mother Nature isn't helping;
Transplant just a little bit higher to allow for settling;
Use the excess soil from the new hole to create a berm to help hold water in the root area;
Mulch;
Sometimes you lose a plant in spite of your best efforts.

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks Bid...Roses here never seem to go dormant. But you are right, they at least slow down. I still get a few roses even in December.

I will wait until November, since October is still fairly warm. We sometimes get a "heat wave". By that I mean maybe 80's, which is very hot for us here.

Once a friend of mine was moving and gave me 3 of her rose bushes. I transplanted them in the spring and they died. So I'm alittle leary of doing it again.

If all fails, I can get the same one or another one come spring!

Mary

 

[vfem]

WOw... Mary.... I think its awesome you get so much out of your roses. I'm with everyone else, wait until they have slowed to a crawl if not asleep for a rest. I am planning on moving a rose from my mother's house to here in December. I do believe after 6 years of neglect and being mowed over it needs a new home.

 

[desertwillow]

Transplant your rose when the bare root roses are on sale in your area. I live in the high desert in CA and bare root roses go on sale after the first of the year. Be sure and prune it back before you move it and give it vitamin B-1 after moving it to prevent shock. Roses are very hardy and I have moved roses at other times because I had no other choice and they may have lost all their leaves but they came back as long as I fed them B-1 and gave them lots of water.