This is a question about moving...?

Question

We are faced with having to sell our home and drastically downsize, maybe to a mobile home on our own plot of ground. I am getting on in years and it has taken me ten years to get my flowers going. Can we dig up all our roses and lilies and things and take them to a new place if we plant them the same day???
I know...silly question, but I have a lot of money in these flowers.

Answer 1

Here's advice from "This Old House" TV show on transplanting rose bushes:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tvprograms/asktoh/qaarticle/0,16588,592699,00.html

More opinions:

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/other-plants/633-transplanting-roses.html

http://www.raingardens.com/forum/index.cgi?noframes;read=6714

http://www.augustarosesociety.org/faqs.shtml


Here is info from the last site:

Transplanting roses

Q. I need to transplant some rose bushes -- when should I do this and what do I need to know?

A. Any type of rose can be moved anytime of the year the ground isn't frozen. It stresses a rosebush less, however, to transplant in late fall or early winter; on the other hand, summer is definitely not the optimal time! But any time you transplant, especially if you do so in the summer, be sure to give the plants some TLC after moving them and water the bushes faithfully. In the summer in a hot climate, water daily.

Here's what to do: root prune (drive a shovel as far down as you can vertically) the roots a few days before transplanting at a distance of two feet or so from the center of the plant. This lessens the shock to the plant when it's moved. Dig and prep the new holes before you dig up the bushes per the instructions in our soil preparation and bare-root planting guide. Be sure the new holes are very soggy-wet.

If the roses to be moved are large, we recommend you cut them back to about one-third to one-half their height so they will be easier to manage. This also conserves moisture in the roses' tissues after replanting. Wrap the remaining canes with twine or rope so you can get underneath to dig without getting "impaled" on the thorns!

Then carefully dig, move and replant in sequence without letting the roots dry out. Be sure the roses are very wet also and dig them up, taking as much of the rootball as possible. (For really large roses, try to get a rootball of 24 inches wide.) Prune the tips of damaged roots; this may help them get a quicker start in their new home. Then set the rootball in the new holes and backfill with soil and water.

Keep the roses moist for several days until they settle in and then water as you normally would. They will likely wilt down some (this is transplant shock), but that's just their way of conserving moisture. They should settle in after a few days and soon return to normalcy to the point where no one will be the wiser that you moved them.

If you can't replant immediately, keep the roots wet until you do replant.


MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS: If you love the roses, take them with you. If you sell your house, "you" are going to lose them. If you take them with you, you have a good chance of keeping them. Like you said, you have a lot invested. I say "go for it!" I would.

Peace. (Peaceful transition... for you & your roses!)

:)

Answer 2

I would wait until the rose bush is done blooming. I tried to transplant one and it put it into shock, and died. But we had a really hot summer, so that didn't help. lilies should be pretty easy. Dig your holes deep and water, water, water

Answer 3

should be able to quite easily, just be careful to not hit the root and such.. perhaps read a flower guide for some help

Answer 4

I have been wondering the exact same thing.. I think you should call some different landscaping companies and ask them about this.

Answer 5

You can, provided you remove the entire root (which is deep in the floor) AND you plant it ASAP!