Moving Rose Plants

Almost every month in the year someone is moving from one home to another, or moving rose plants from one garden to another. Many plants are left behind but many more are killed because they were not moved properly. While there are several lines of thought about how to grow and move bushes, everyday I find people growing roses and other plants with NO thought at all.

Some think the rose is a God given, delicate, weak, but beautiful plant which must be coddled like a baby, and that only the well-versed or lucky, green thumber can grow it. Others believe this gorgeous thing is kin to a weed and can be pulled up and reset any time of the year without ample care or watering. These two examples are the extremes, but the rose is one of the most versatile of all the semi-deciduous shrubs grown that produces high quality blooms. It is true that even without care this plant will do its utmost to survive and produce seed and is most likely to do so for several years, but there would not be many flowers, no quality and poor plants. Thus, some thought should be given before moving plants.

Dormant Moves

When possible it is much better to move a rose plant while completely dormant. This would be after all blooms are frozen in the fall, any time from then on till new growth begins to appear in the spring, providing of course the ground is not frozen too hard.

We often find roses must be moved when in full bloom. This is the time to use common sense.

First prepare the spot in which you want to plant the bush, get the soil all mixed with peat moss, compost or some type of humus and dig a hole so you can lift the plant from the old bed and when you arrive at the new garden just slide it into the hole.

But we cannot just dig that plant up; blooms, leaves and all and move it even if we get some of the soil with the roots. (It’s very hard to get much soil to hang onto the roots.) Cut the plant back, perhaps two or three eyes above the hard, mature stems, remove all foliage (your plants should look like the ones purchased in the spring). Have an old burlap sack or piece of plastic handy in which to wrap the newly dug plant. Do Not Dig and Allow Roots To Be Exposed to the Sun and Wind for More Than a Few Moments.

Now remove all mulch as well as topsoil about 1/2 to one inch from the top. Next start digging the plant with a ball of soil on it by digging around the plant about eight inches from the stem and throwing the soil away from the plant, just as if you were digging a small ditch around the ball of soil and the plant.

When this ditch is dug about ten inches deep you may take your spade and trim the ball of soil down to about ten inches across. Trim or shave off a small slice at a time working around the ball, then trim the bottom off round and cut under the plant with the spade. Do not try to lift the plant out of the hole yet, take that old piece of burlap or plastic. work it around and under the ball of soil, tie it tight and lift plant from the hole by the burlap or plastic (not picking it up by the stems).

Do not remove the plastic or wrapping from around the soil until it is set in the new hole, then carefully unwrap the soil filling the hole nearly full of the loose, mixed soil and fill the balance of hole with water three to four times before finally filling it full of soil. Mound plant just as in the spring but remove mound in eight or ten days. Even if part of the soil breaks off the roots when unwrapping the plant will not die. The more soil you lose the greater the setback in the summertime but the plant will not die.

I have taken roses up nearly bare root in July, wrapped them in wet sphagnum moss, hauled them 600 miles and planted them with no loss whatsoever. I did put up some sticks at four foot intervals stretching thin screening over the plants for two weeks. The thin material lets enough light through but prevents the sun from causing too much dehydration. The covering must be at least 12 inches above the top of the plant.

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