buford, that doesn't sound like crown gall. Have you visually identified a gall? Perhaps voles have chewed off the roots?

No, it wasn't the roots, it was the whole graft that just disintegrated. Maybe it was just rotted wood?

Gall doesn't cause rot in my experience. It is a tumor-like growth with woody structure and the surface texture of cauliflower.

I once saw a rose whose graft had turned to mush, and it had small insect larvae in it. Not sure they were the cause, but maybe so. I've read of a pest, the Raspberry Crown Borer, that infrequently attacks roses and destroys the crown. Maybe that was what I saw.

If it were me, I would not re-plant in that spot for quiet some time.

Maybe, put an annual there for the next year or so.

Jeri

If it is gall, there are several schools of thought. Some say don't replant because the bacteria exists in that spot. But, the bacteria exists in MANY places. It is indigenous here in the west, like Oak Root Fungus, but both require the right conditions to be stimulated into active growth. Some say to replace the soil or dig it out, letting it dry thoroughly. There is even a school which suggests sterilizing the soil with a weak bleach solution, then flushing it through the soil with copious water, then letting the whole dry out completely before adding more organics or native soil and replanting.

My own thought is, the bacteria is already there. It required the right conditions to establish its symptoms. Whether I replant in that soil or not, the chances are gall will occur. Some roses are much more susceptible to it than others. I've seen it on a number of Flower Carpet and the Meilland landscape roses. The Fairy is highly susceptible as is Francine Austin. Francine often forms galls everywhere it roots in many gardens around these parts. I've experienced gall on own root roses from various nurseries planted in only potting soil in cans. Neither Werner von Blon nor Rabble Rouser have been grown in native soil here, as both were small plants from two different nurseries. Both are canned in potting soil and both have galls. Most of the roses I've grown have no symptoms of it, but I know it's here. I seriously doubt any efforts to prevent it from occurring are going to have much effect, other than to use Galltrol, the antibiotic to control gall outbreaks.

I don't week whack around the roses, nor do I dig around their roots. Moles and gophers do a lot of that for me. If a wound is necessary for the gall to enter and begin working its wonders in the plant, then rabbits, squirrels and gophers probably do more than enough to assist it. But, none of the canned plants have experienced those issues, yet they express gall. So, I live with it unless or until it becomes sufficiently serious to inhibit the plant. It's just another of Nature's checks to prevent any one species from becoming dominant. Kim

For an annual, I'd suggest the French Marigold, Targetes spp., which are supposed to be good at suppressing A. tumifaciens in the soil.

I'm trying them in a part of one bed that is where tobacco was planted for decades, but this year I had trouble getting Targetes seeds with a good germination rate.

My old aBe Darby has one large gross tumor every spring. It is disgusting. I cut that branch off and disinfect the pruners. This is a monster healthy rose in close quarters. None of the surrounding roses ever develop gall. The only time I have let an area go fallow, was when I was suspicious of RR.