Transplanting Roses

[greg_s]

Outside of my new house are some rose bushes that flower a really nice pink color. The previous owner put them all around the house in some of the worst spots that I can think of. Bad light, bad air circulation, and I can't imagine they would get too much water where they are either. I am thinking of moving them to an area that I have set aside for a rose garden.

That being said...now that we are in the begining of June...is it too late to move them? I know it is best to move them while dormant but I am very nervous about how they are growing in their current conditions.

Completely new to roses so any help and/or advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Greg

The first day of summer is rapidly approaching, along with the usual extremely high temperatures and hot nights. If you transplanted now, you would have to constantly monitor the plants very closely and keep them well hydrated. A better time might be around the first week in September, with it's cool nights. What you can do in the meantime is get a shovel and thrust it straight down into the ground in a circle around each rose, about ten inches away from the trunk. This will sever any wandering roots and force the rootball to become more compact. You can repeat this in July and then again in August. When you do finally go to transplant the bushes, the roots will be ready and the plant will suffer less trauma. You might also look for a product like Shultz's B1 transplanting formula or seaweed (kelp) extract which will help the plant make the adjustment.

[latsyrc]

I have roses growing indoors, for some odd reason, and they are driving me absolutely batty. They keep getting infested with spider mites, or what I think are spider mites. However, I finally got fed up and just pruned the snot out of them, so they had no leaves at all. Funnily enough, they're coming back quite strongly, and no more mites!