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| I have a nice old rose, but it has to go. It's in the way of a home improvement project. I did get some good advice about transplanting it a few years ago from y'all, but I just won't have a place to put it. However, I will have a place in 6 months after the remodeling. If I could even get it out, is it possible to put a big bush in a really big pot for several months and not kill it? I expect to fail, but I'd like to try (unless anyone in the bay area would like to adopt it?).
There's no green near the base so I don't think I can cut it back. It's also wide and awkward and was sort of espaliered once. I assume I'll have to pull up the sidewalk to even attempt this, which is okay.
It looks much better during its month of serious bloom, and much worse the rest of the year. :) Any tips on potting a big one? Estimates on how big a root ball I should expect? (The greenhouse has a dirt floor interior but I don't know how deep the walls go. The sidewalk is about 18" wide and 5" deep.) Or do I just say it's had a good 60 years and let it go? Nahhhh...can't do that! Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Completely possible! I had to dig out an entire bed and pot them up one summer. That's how I ended up having my big pot garden. They did so well that summer and never blinked when I replanted them that I decided to try growing more in pots, lol! Just get a good root ball, use good potting soil and keep it well watered in the pot. It should do fine. |
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| Thanks, Seil! How deep are the roots likely to be? I've never dug up a rose bush and would like an idea where to cut in. I don't want to start too shallow. |
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| Depending upon the soil depth and quality under it, they can easily be as large as the top growth, and can spread that much in every direction. The more root you get in comparison to the top growth left, the greater your chances of success. Good luck! Kim |
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| Yikes. That thing is over 10 feet wide! But only 18"wide the other direction. Do roses (that aren't really watered ever) have deep roots? Do they spread under concrete? So I would move as much dirt around/attached to the roots as possible and fill in the rest of the pot with good potting soil? And just hope it doesn't notice? I'm starting to feel very weak and puny thinking about it. :) Thanks! |
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| I have to dig up a bunch of tea roses that are also in the way of a construction project. Many of these died way back during this winter, so they are a lot smaller than they were previously. You may want to trim back the top of the rose. but not too much. You can also trim roots back a bit if you get one you can't dig up. You may also want to take cuttings so if the rose doesn't make it, you can have a replacement. |
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| That looks an awful lot like 'Brandy.' I wouldn't want to cut it back REAL hard. Just get as much root as you can, put it in the biggest container you can find, and water it a lot. It's gonna really need water. |
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| Brandy isn't sixty years old, nor is it a climber, which this appears to be. To be that color, climbing and that old, my bet would be Royal Sunset. Kim |
Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Sunset
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| I don't know for sure that it's a climber--is it possible to train a non-climber that way? (There are a few weirdly contorted trees left over from the original landscaping of which this rose was a part. I think the owners just DID that sort of thing.) I don't know how to tell one way or another if something is a climber. If this was, it isn't now! All it does now is grow at the ends of those two woody branches. On the bright side, no thorns on the "trunks". It's nice to see that there are good orange options out there, just in case. I can't tell what it is--it looks like both of those to me! But the timing on the Royal Sunset fits well. The greenhouse was built in 1961. Hmmmm I failed to kill that "Mermaid" that was popping up in the middle of my yard from a parent plant 20 yards away so maybe I won't kill this!! Thanks! |
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| It may not be a climber. My Aunt has had a rose for about 60 years, that we think is Chrysler Imperial, and not the climber, that is easily that big. It's a good 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide every summer. It has the same enormously thick canes at the bottom too. In a protected spot where it gets little winter die back and very little pruning I think a lot of HTs would get that large with time. And being in CA and not having to worry about winter I think that could happen even quicker for your rose. It's just very old and very BIG! Don't worry about trying to get ALL of the root ball. You won't. There's always some root ball loss when you transplant a rose. Get as large a ball as you can handle and pot and it should be OK. The key is the water afterwards. Keep it consistently moist, but not drowning wet, and don't fertilize it at all until you see good new growth on it. If it wilts or shows any transplant shock move it to a partially shady spot or put some shade over it during the hottest part of the day. If it's very hot you might want to give it a shower top to bottom to cool it and keep the leaves moist. Keeping it hydrated is going to be the most important thing to keeping it alive. As an insurance, and since you might have to cut it back some anyway, you might want to think about rooting some cuttings from it as well. Start several so you'll have a better chance of success. |
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| Thanks for all the advice! I'll put the planter on casters so I can move it. How deep a pot do I need? I have a stock tank (drilled for drainage) that's 2' tall but only 2' wide (x6' long). Should I try to find something bigger? That's actually wider than the exposed soil it has now, but I don't know where it is under the walkway. Should I put the newly potted rose in the shade or dappled sunlight and move it into the sun after it (hopefully) recovers? How particular are roses to exposure and sunlight? I do have ONE spot I could move it permanently and avoid the pot altogether, but it's on a north wall instead of its current SW and isn't quite as sunny. I guess from a sunshine point of view, it is pretty much exposed in its current site with afternoon shade. Maybe it would have better odds if I just moved it there instead of potting and then transplanting in who-knows-how-many months? |
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- Posted by frances_in_nj z6 NJ (My Page) on Mon, Jun 23, 14 at 18:35
| For what its worth, here's something that has worked for me when transplanting mature roses at the wrong time of the year! I dig up the rose, getting as much root as I can - but inevitably, I don't get the whole root ball. Then, I put the plant in a huge container of water and let it sit there in a shady spot for 24 hours or so. Basically the same idea as soaking a bare root. Then I either plant out or pot up the plant. I usually cut the plant back some, but I have also experimented with not really cutting it back at all. I have had great success with this method. One time I did it, the plant had buds on it, and it even succeeded in blooming! I have done this at various times during the growing season. In any event, however you decide to proceed, best of luck with it! |
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| The pot sounds OK for temporary quarters. I put mine in ordinary water buckets from the dollar store when I did mine. They spent the entire summer there. If it's very hot putting them in shade to begin with might be a good idea. I'm in a very different climate but my roses on the NE side do very well in morning sun only. Do you have any other roses on that side of your house? If they're doing well then this one should too. |
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| Thanks, Seil. I don't have any other roses on that side; the roses I do have are completely wild (I have about 50' of fence that is burglarproofed by a very thuggish Mermaid). This would be a prominent spot in the front yard where it would be required to look good. Maybe it would work. The front was recently landscaped and has actual irrigation. The spot I have in mind was meant to have a hibiscus, but I wasn't able to find one that was suitably orange! |
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