Coming late to the conversation, but I have had this happen, and am going to be moving an old rose bush next month or so. Just to let you know, I'm more of a minimalist gardener, in that I don't fuss a lot on a day to day basis, but I do preventive maintenance to try to avoid problems. Right now I'm ignoring the roses because we still have the risk of snow, etc.
Here is my opinion and what I do:
If you want to move them, then move them. When I move a rose, I dig a very deep, wide hole (compared to regular perennials). I think a little over two foot down, and at least 18' wide.
But I always cut back to just knee high, not long after the leaves start developing. Then put a good layer of mulch around them, in dish form so the water will stay around the rose when you water or it rains. It looks like the climber does not have anything to climb. If it doesn't have something to climb it will just get leggy and boring and grow along the ground, probably picking up pests, etc. As the climber grows, have green "tape" or some type of tie on hand to hold up the canes. Sometime in mid-May or so, I use Bayer rose fertilizer in granule form, then water in. I don't fertilize too early- because of the risk of frost, as I mentioned earlier. That's about it unless you want to get fancy and try different fertilizer like some serious rose growers use.
As CindiKS mentioned, I too keep weeds or anything else from growing right along the rose. Other plants can pass along disease, and roses for sure need good air circulation. Hope this helps!
I cannot believe I forgot to mention this, but it is early.....I always plant roses where they have afternoon sun. They love afternoon sun. (Afternoon shade can leave a rose with moisture overnight and that = black spot in my neck of the woods)
