This may sound like a stupid question but are rose bush roots too deep for a strong woman to dig up or should I hire a man to do it?

The other day I cut back one of my rose bushes to the ground because it hasn't looked that great the last few years and this year has not produced that many blooms. The main cane was looking woodsy, not green but like something was wrong with it. I don't think i'm going to replace it. We've cut it back like this before and it always has returned in the Spring but I don't want this one to return at all so want to dig its roots up.

How hard it will be to dig up has more to do with the sort of soil you have than the depth of the roots, but I'll bet you can do it yourself - especially since you aren't trying to save the plant.

I agree with Porkpal. If the rose is on Dr Huey rootstock, though, it's quite possible that the roots extend into the soil more than two or three feet. A season after moving New Dawn on DH rootstock I have had rootstock sprout from bits left in the ground. So some later cleanup might be required.

Just keep soaking the hole around the roots as you dig. Don't hack at the roots with the shovel like I did this spring--you can end up with real injuries. My vision is still cluttered with flocks of sparrows from that ordeal.
Some roses form thick tree-like roots. . I took pictures of some of the trunks I dug out this year but I can't find them right now. I've had to removed 8 roses so far from Rose Rosette Disease, and it seems like every one of those 8 had monster sized roots. i don't think that has anything to do with the RRD, though. I know I wasn't able to removed all the roots because they went too deep, so now I have to remember not to plant any roses in that spot.
As far as your question, 'can a woman do this?', I have to laugh. If I ask my husband to do something that I perceive to take more strength than I have, he'll go get a piece of equipment that makes the work easy. I'll think, I could have done that. It's all in tools and technique. Get a sharp shovel, soak the area, take your time. You can do it!
(humming...Anything you can do, I can do better.....)

Deepest I ever found rose roots was about 3' down & about in a 3' spread around. Took me about 20 minutes to dig it out. Of course, it all depends on the soil, too. Like everyone else says, water water water, especially if it's clay or rock (rock won't soften with water, but it does make it a *little* easier). If necessary, get one of these shovels: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/... It's a trenching shovel & it's great for rocky soil IMO.

The trenching shovel is the exact one i use.

I just dig out 2 - 5 foot,twisted junipers( topiary) in my front yard using a chainsaw, a shovel, a lopper, and here's what I did. I am 48 years old woman and in decent shape. I use loppers to cut smaller branches and the chainsaw ( 14 inches) Dewalt to cut sections at a time. Then, I dig around the tree. I use my gloves to feel for the roots keeping an eye out for drain pipes and Sprinkler system. I use loppers or hand pruners depending on thickness to cut the roots, once I verify it is a root. Dig all the way around it until I get under it. You have to find the roots. You don't always have to dig out all the roots. They will die once main tree trunk is pulled out. Always leave about a foot of the tree or bush trunk to move it back and forth. Hope this helps. I have dug out many bushes over the years and a pine tree just recently on my own.

Or you could wrap a chain around it and pull it out with a truck - or car, for that matter.

Of course a woman can do it! I'm 63, and still dig out huge established roses by myself. You don't have to get all the roots out; just get as much as you can. And, yes, you can re-plant a rose there, if you take precautions. These include: removing as many of the old roots as possible and then,re-digging the area,adding oodles of organic matter and other goodies (I use expanded clay and betonite-based kitty litter and potting soil),and also at least one wheel-barrow-full of native soil, taken from a place in which roses have never been grown. If you want to be extra-careful, wait a year before planting the new rose, and sow marigolds in the area; if grown from seed they are said to help.

Any advice now may be rather too late. This thread is ten years old.