I want to transplant old established tea roses. The roots are enormous and I'm fearful of damaging them.?

Northern California, West Sonoma County. Cold enough for apple, peach, lilac, peony, staghorn sumac and warm enough for many 'sensitive' plants like banans, citrus and palm trees. Need/want to transplant 5 of them.

I want to transplant old established tea roses. The roots are enormous and I'm fearful of damaging them.?
I agree with the first answerer. Cut it all back to about 2-3 feet and then begin the process of transplanting. Try not to be too fearful because roses are tougher than they look. I've moved so many roses and the first I ever moved was about 10 years old. I thought I would lose it, but I had great results. I think it even preferred it's new location because it shot up and out like fireworks the following season. Here is exactly how I do it.


Transplanting a rose


1) wait until evening when temps are cooler.


2) cut the rose back to about 2 or 3 feet.


3) prepare the new home by digging a hole 2ftx2ft and water the hole. Fill the hole with water and let it drain at least twice.


4) save the top 2/3 of soil that you just dug up and set aside. Discard the bottom 1/3.


5) amend the soil you saved with peat, bone meal, and garden compost.


6) in the bottom of the hole add a layer of manure 2-3 inches thick and then layers some of the amended soil on top of the manure. Do NOT set the roots directly on the manure.


7) use a shovel to cut around the rose bush about 24inches from the trunk all the way around.


8) Moving around the rose bush again, reinsert the shovel and pull down on the handle. Doing this all the way around will loosen the soil and begin to separate any long roots. Keep doing this until the rose can be easily removed (Don't worry too much if you break a root because roses are tougher than they look)


9) Remove the rose. At this point it is best to keep as much of the origional soil around the roots as possible.


10) set the rose in hole making sure the soil on the root ball is a little above the level of the new hole. You want the rose to be on a small mound.


11) fill in the hole half way with the ammended soil and water. Once the water has run through then finish filling in the hole with the soil and water throughly.





Now that you have transplanted your rose then make sure you give it water everyday for the next 2 weeks. Be sure you water it at the base and early in the morning because roses don't like to get wet. After the two weeks then you can cut back the watering to once a week. If at any point your rose leaves begin to turn yellow then cut back on the watering.





Good Luck
Reply:Roses are pretty tough plants. Prune them back hard, water them well. Dig the new hole and fill it with water and let it drain. Dig as much as possible of the root ball out, use snippers to cut where you need to. Transplant the roses and water well. You can buy a product that you can water in to help your roses not lose too much moisture. Also, try to do it in the cooler part of the day, late afternoon etc.
Reply:cut the stems, foliage back hard. the less plant matter, the less root system will be needed.