Moving Roses

[tearinghair]

We're having a small building job done, which will mean moving four well-established HT roses. I want to give them the best chance of surviving, though I realise that this probably isn't the best time of year. The easiest thing would be to move them into a border where there's already plenty of room; it has several small lavender bushes which are doing well, but is shaded by a neighbour's high fence. Is there any chance that the roses would thrive there? Otherwise it would involve a fairly large clearing operation in the border on the other side of the garden, which gets plenty of sun. I'd be grateful for any advice.

[puzzled54]

Can you put them in large pots till the building job is done ?

[hellywelly4]

Difficult. Roses do not like being moved in the spring. Make sure you take a large amount of soil with the roots when you dig them up and them water a lot. I think they would be ok in the shady border for now, but perhaps you could move them again when they're dormant - November/December time.

[tearinghair]

I don't think they will go back in the same place afterwards, but won't know for sure until it's done. I have some large pots, so could try that, thank you.

[malagabob]

I don’t think it’s way beyond the time to move them. Get as much soil ball around the roots as possible. Maybe prune a bit to save evaporation. Weather ideal at the moment if in UK as plenty of wet weather forecast for the next week or so which helps. Never transplant if sun and dry weather forecast,it’s a sure killer.

[tearinghair]

I'll have a go tomorrow between the showers!

[Chipchopper]

Maybe you could try healing them in, until a permanent position is found. This involves laying the bushes in a trench at a 45-degree angle, then covering the roots with soil.
This is a temporary solution, to keep them ticking over.

[Chipchopper]

Sorry, I meant "heeling in" ^

[Buenchico]

>>> "Roses do not like being moved in the spring"

Things must be different on the other side of the pond then. This American rose-growing company says "The best time to transplant a rose is in early spring when the rose is still dormant. This causes less stress and shock to the plant":
https://www.heirloomroses.com/info/care/how-to/transplanting-roses/
(There's lots of useful advice there, Tearinghair).

Given that last month was (according to the Met Office) the frostiest April for 60 years, this month might possibly still be considered 'early spring' in horticultural terms, I think.

[tearinghair]

Thanks for all the useful advice. Would the heeling in be a reasonable solution for as long as a couple of months? At the moment I'm thinking of planting them temporarily in a less-than-ideal position then giving them a permanent home in the autumn. They're mostly getting on a bit in years and I particularly don't want to lose my father's favourite 'Superstar' or the white one for Yorkshire that I planted in memory of my mother. But I do have some nice photos of them all, so it wouldn't be a complete disaster.

[Buenchico]

I suggest taking some cuttings, from the roses that are particularly precious to you, before trying to move them. Then, even if you do manage to kill a plant, you'll still have its 'children' to admire and to cherish.

This time of year is best for softwood cuttings, irrespective of whether you'll be trying to move the roses now or later on. So get your secateurs and gardening gloves out!

[tearinghair]

I will. I've had mixed success with cuttings in the past - I'm not a natural gardener - but have already taken some of the very large white heather that is growing close by and they look OK so far. Will look out some pots tomorrow.