I have a Knockout Rose that I need to move to a friend's house. It's really big after four or so years, never being pruned. It's around four to five feet wide and tall.
We would like to divide it into TWO bushes, i.e. dividing the rootball in half.
Is this possible with Knockout roses?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
We plan to move it around September, if that's a good time.
I thought I should prune it fairly heavily first, to reduce it's water needs.
I've read that, when moving trees, you should cut 1/3 to 1/2 the roots the year before. Would it help any for me to cut some of this rose's roots a month or so before I cut the rest during the move?
I'm afraid that the roots may have gone so deep and spread so wide that I'll have to cut a lot of them to get it out of the ground.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I've never moved a rose, bush, shrub or tree.
