moving a rose bush?

Question

i am moving house and would like to take my rose bush with me - its been in the ground approx. 3 yrs
i hav been told i should water it loads from about 24hrs b4 digging it up - is that right?
also what sort of area of my new garden would be best to put it in (e.g. amounts of shade etc.)
is there anything else i should know to ensure it stays alive?

erm... whats burlap??

Answer 1

Try to move your rose on a cool preferable dull day,Just give it a good feed a couple of hours before you want to dig it out. Have a large pot ready to put it into with a small amount of compost in.
Use a garden fork NOT a shovel or even a spade.
Gently ease your fork in about 12"from the rose to the depth of the fork and continue in this way, all the way around, easing it gentle as you go, if the rose still has not moved go around it again until you can pull it up.
Place it in the pot you have ready and use the soil that was around it to fill the pot.
This way if you dont get chance to replant it as soon as you move it will survive in the pot for a short while but, get it in the garden in a sunny position asap.Remember to water in well.
Wilting will probable happen but it should pick up after a couple of days in its new position, if it doesn't prune back by a third.
Hope you enjoy your new home.

Answer 2

Moving it in the middle of the summer is much more stressful for the plant. However if you can keep most of the soil around the plant and try not to disturb or break too many roots then you should be fine. Yes, you do need to water it a lot, but you don't want to have to deal with mud so just make it really moist right before you have to dig it out. Get a large piece of burlap so you can wrap it around the root ball and soil. Prune the bush down to two or three feet and begin cutting around the root ball with a shovel about 2 foot from the base. Cut in a circle all the way around. After you've cut a circle then reinsert the shovel and gently pull down on the handel to try to loosen the roots from the soil. If the rose doesn't appear to be moving or lifting out of the soil then you may have to move in closer. Just keep gently working it until you can free it from the soil. Place the rose on the burlap and bind it snuggly and water it. You should have a new home ready for your rose. Roses need at least 6 hours of sun per day so a nice sunny location is best. Have the hole ready to go and make sure you have watered the hole very well before putting the rose it. Just fill it a couple of times and let it drain. After you've planted your rose in it's new home you will need to water it frequently for the next two weeks and then you can cut back to once a week. Roses are pretty resilient and tend to bounce back nicely. Good Luck

Burlap is a course natural fabric you can get at any fabric store. Just ask the people who work there and they will point it out.

Answer 3

Of course this is the wrong time to move it but I was faced with the same problem some years ago with a rose that had been established for something like 20 years. What we did was dig it up and move it to new house. We did not try and keep the soil. We put root i deep bucket of water and left it there for about a week. We dug a hole - filled it with water - put the rose in the hole and filled it in. Watered well and prayed. It worked a treat and some 15 years later this rose still gives us more flower than any other in the garden!

Answer 4

Depending on the cultivar of bush you have, it is considered better to buy a new plant as roses are difficult to move and generally need to be replaced after a certain time. You can move it if you love the plant so much. It is best done when cool (early morning or late evening) reducing water loss from leaves. Dig around the roots with a fork (not spade) including a large circle of soil so that less root damage occurs. Gently tease the roots out with fork. Then place in large enough pot/bucket to hold roots comfortably. Fill with multipurpose compost. Cut down branches/leaves by at least 1/3 (to reduce water loss) ,water well and keep an eye on plant. It will probably wilt in the first few days but should perk up as roots restablish themselves. The new site shoulde be sunny and the soil should be well drained, dig hole deep and wide enough to accommodate roots (up to their previous soil level) and to incoroporate well rotted manure +++. Once replanted, ensure regular watering until roots establishd. Good luck!

Answer 5

I have moved roses without any problems Soak it well before lifting out of the ground. Roses like the sun so put it in a sunny area.

Answer 6

thats a good question. i want to do the same and would like to see answers to this.