Here's my concern--I'm very comfortable moving most of the perennials (daylilies, peonies, iris, etc.) but I'm worried about the shrub roses--there are close to 40 of them scattered throughout the different beds. Some were still tagged (knockouts, meidilands) and others weren't, but appear to be older varieties of hardy shrub roses. I'm not a completely novice gardener, but I'm no pro, especially when it comes to roses. I know the best time to move them is in the spring when they're dormant, but would it be better to pot them up short term and then replant later, or plant them in the test garden for a full year and move them again next spring, or heel them in the garden during the weeks that it will take to get the brome grass killed? I live in eastern Nebraska, so I also have to be concerned about the temperature moving from a few weeks of cool spring to hot and dry pretty rapidly. I need to save what I can--I can't afford to replace them all, and even with the weeds they were beautiful blooming when we first looked at the house in June. My other issue is that it may take a few additional weeks to get the other perennials moved out before I can kill the grass--I'd like to save as many of them as I can, but they won't all come up until after the roses should be moved. My budget for new plants is tight--we're working on the interior of the house at the same time--so again, I need to salvage what I can.

How would you proceed? Thanks so much in advance!

It depends on how long you think you're going to have them out of the bed for revamping whether you want to pot them or plant them. If you feel it will only be a short time and before the high heat of summer sets in then you can go ahead and pot them up short term. If it's going to take a good part of the summer then I'd plant them in the holding bed until next spring. I've grown roses in pots as permanent places and I've moved roses in July when it was very hot and they've survived fine but those aren't the best of conditions.

Prepare the new holes before you dig them out. If the rose is very large or very tall you can prune it back some before moving it so it will be easier to handle. Try to dig as much root ball as you can and disturb it as little as possible. You can put it in a wheel barrow or on a tarp to drag it if it's very large and heavy. Get it planted into it's new place quickly and keep it well watered but not soggy and don't fertilize it for the first week or so until you begin to see new growth. Then you can go to a regular feeding and watering schedule. When you replant them into the finished bed you do the same thing.

If you decide to pot them get big pots, make sure there are lots of drainage holes in them and take off any trays that are on the bottom of the pots. Only use good quality potting soil, not garden soil, in the pots. Regular dirt is too heavy and will not drain properly in a pot. Which means you'll have to pretty much bare root the roses. Do this by digging out the root ball and then very gently rinsing them with a hose until most of the soil is gone and then potting them up. Then do the same thing as with the ground planted ones, keep watered and wait to see new growth before fertilizing.

If you are going to use anykind of herbicide on those weeds and grasses I'd plant them and wait until next year to put them back so that the herbicide is completely gone from that new bed. Herbicides do nasty things to roses.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing pictures of your new beds and beautiful roses!

You don't know how much I appreciate this--I haven't worked with roses before because our old garden was primarily shade, and I just don't want to stress the plants any more than I have to. As far as the schedule goes and beating the heat, I have no idea how to plan for the weather this year--at the rate we're going we may have full spring by the end of March (our last frost date is usually early May).

I don't want to use herbicide on the beds (I don't like using it at all), but I may not have much choice if I want to replant this year--ag extension said it could take most of the summer to kill the grass off with tarps--brome is tough stuff. If I do spray, it will probably be repeated applications of roundup, so I shouldn't have a problem with herbicide residue once everything is dead.

Thanks again--I'll be happy to post pictures when I'm done, or even before and after photos. I'm doubtful that it will look like much for a year or two, but I have high hopes after that. :)

Potting them gives you the advantage of being able to move them if the weather is bad, but the plants can suffer if they stay potted too long. If you don't see yourself replanting by summer, put them in a holding bed for a year while you work on the weeds. Or you could do half in pots and half in the holding bed. Sometimes you can split a plant in pieces and do both.

Remember to have it balanced. You don't want a lot of tall canes and short roots. If you have to, trim them down so the roots are able to support the canes then growth starts. I like to have as big a root mass as I can.

Personally, I see it as a good time to get the soil into prime rose shape. I sift it and add good things and then when I plant the rose has the best chance to do well. I think you can add a little soil to the potting mix with no trouble.

Hopefully you will find you have a few pieces of rooted cane at the edges to start as smaller potted plants for insurance. Sometimes if the little guys are growing great, I will keep potting them up larger them in case the big rose didn't move well. Also, the little plants give you a chance to try the rose in more than one location and see which is best.

We had the same problem with my neighbors bermuda grass moving into my minis. Nothing to do but dig up the roses and get rid of the grass that is in the roots. Sift out as much grass as you can so that you have to spray the killer as few times as possible in as few places as possible. Roses really hate that stuff and I think it hangs around and slows them down when you replant.