Moving rose bushes...tips please.

DDRanch

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I want to move and will give away several rose bushes, about 2 years old. My neighbor will re-plant as soon as she gets them. I want to do this now and re-plant the area with bulbs. I am in No. Ca.

Please advise the best way to proceed to give the bushes a good chance. I am thinking prune severely, dig a big area around the roots, re-plant immediately. Am I on the right track?
 

robbobbin

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When to Prune Roses
Timing is determined by the class of the rose plant and the zone in which it is growing. Most rose pruning is done in the spring, with the blooming of the forsythia as a signal to get moving. If you don't have forsythia, watch for when the leaf buds begin to swell on your rose plants, meaning the bumps on the canes get larger and reddish in color.

Hybrid tea roses are the most particular about pruning. If you don't know what type of rose you have, watch the plant for a season. If it blooms on the new growth it sends out that growing season, prune while dormant or just about to break dormancy, as stated above. If it blooms early, on last year's canes, don't prune until after flowering.
 

DDRanch

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robbobbin said:
When to Prune Roses
Timing is determined by the class of the rose plant and the zone in which it is growing. Most rose pruning is done in the spring, with the blooming of the forsythia as a signal to get moving. If you don't have forsythia, watch for when the leaf buds begin to swell on your rose plants, meaning the bumps on the canes get larger and reddish in color.

Hybrid tea roses are the most particular about pruning. If you don't know what type of rose you have, watch the plant for a season. If it blooms on the new growth it sends out that growing season, prune while dormant or just about to break dormancy, as stated above. If it blooms early, on last year's canes, don't prune until after flowering.
Thank you Robbobbin for your reply. We prune our roses here end of January but I need to move them now to make room for the bulbs which I need to plant now in order for the bulbs to come up in the Spring.

Anne
 

herbsherbsflowers

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I think you can go ahead and move them now. I would trim them back because they will be stressed when you move them and that way they won't need so much water. One thing I read somewhere and I have done when planting or transplanting roses and that is put a handful of dry dog food in the bottom of the hole when you plant. It supposedly has lots of nitrogen or something that helps the roses. I haven't lost a rose when I have done that. I might not have anyway but what the heck.
 

GrowsLotsaPeppers

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The rose lady here would likely kill me for giving rose advice. I am, in her words, for the roses at least, the unskilled labor. But we have over 100 of them on our suburban small lot in the Bay Area, and I haven't killed most of the valuable ones yet.:D

I would prune them back, not as heavily as they will get in January, but still at least 50%, (root prune, too, although not heavily) and transplant them into a LARGE container, filled with rose mix and potting soil from our local nursery. Add in epsom salts, bone meal, and some good rose food, and water well. Then do almost nothing until February, when you can repot or move the plant to the ground. Just make sure they don't completely dry out to bone dry. In NorCal, that shouldn't be too hard.

Normally, I'd wait, and do the bare root thing, but if you need the space, then... At worst, you'll kill a $25 rose, although not all that likely.
 

DDRanch

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herbsherbsflowers said:
I think you can go ahead and move them now. I would trim them back because they will be stressed when you move them and that way they won't need so much water. One thing I read somewhere and I have done when planting or transplanting roses and that is put a handful of dry dog food in the bottom of the hole when you plant. It supposedly has lots of nitrogen or something that helps the roses. I haven't lost a rose when I have done that. I might not have anyway but what the heck.
Thank you so much. I have never heard about the dog food, but why not? I will just have to do this when my dogs have their backs turned. Thank you.
Anne
 

DDRanch

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GrowsLotsaPeppers said:
The rose lady here would likely kill me for giving rose advice. I am, in her words, for the roses at least, the unskilled labor. But we have over 100 of them on our suburban small lot in the Bay Area, and I haven't killed most of the valuable ones yet.:D

I would prune them back, not as heavily as they will get in January, but still at least 50%, (root prune, too, although not heavily) and transplant them into a LARGE container, filled with rose mix and potting soil from our local nursery. Add in epsom salts, bone meal, and some good rose food, and water well. Then do almost nothing until February, when you can repot or move the plant to the ground. Just make sure they don't completely dry out to bone dry. In NorCal, that shouldn't be too hard.

Normally, I'd wait, and do the bare root thing, but if you need the space, then... At worst, you'll kill a $25 rose, although not all that likely.
Thank you. This is just what I needed. And don't worry, your secret rose advice is safe with me. Thanks again.
Anne
 

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