New and Unread Tree-Mails
Views: 226, Replies: 9 » Jump to the end |
Name: Erika Tacoma (Zone 8b)  ekern27 Mar 30, 2018 12:37 PM CST |
| Hi All! This is my first post here, and I'm already begging for advice! I recently (June2017) bought a house from a man who was an AVID gardener and rose collector. The yards are beautiful but VERY overwhelming for a person who has spent her adult life in apartments and homes with tiny yards. I haven't even counted all the rose bushes and I'm at 87. I'm guessing it's 100+ which is about 80+ more than I would like. I have friends who want the bushes I want to remove but I want to insure that I remove and pack them up for transport safely. I looked into transplanting tips but they all seem to be focused on moving the plants from one part of the yard to the other. Do I need to wrap up the roots? Just put them in a container? Do I need to prep them before removal? I'm guessing there will be lag time of a few days before the plants are replanted. Any tips, trick, help, advice will be GREATLY appreciated! THANKS! Erika PS - If anyone here is in the Tacoma area and wants a bush or 10, let me know! ;) |
Name: Lilli Copenhagen, Denmark, EU              IrisLilli Mar 31, 2018 5:36 AM CST |
 to the roses forum Erika! I think it is a great idea to give away your unwanted roses rather than just throwing them away, I'm sure your friends will enjoy them for many years to come!  I'm sure someone in a zone similar to yours will chime in and give some advice.  One thing I do know is that if your climate is cold enough in winter to make the roses go dormant, that is the best time to move them. Also, bare root plants do not like drying out, so wrapping the roots in wet newspapers and a plastic bag might be a good idea. You don't know if it will grow until you try! |
Name: Steve Prescott, AZ (Zone 7b)    Steve812 Mar 31, 2018 7:59 AM CST |
| Hi Erika, I agree with Lilli. Newpaper, burlap, whatever. I noticed that a recent shipment of bare root roses arrived in what looked like a garbage bag. Kept in a garbage bag with damp, shredded newspaper a rose kept in cool temperatures will be happy for a few days, at least. If I were in your position, Erika, I might consider having my friends dig up their own roses. Maybe tag the ones you will be giving away and make an event of it. A bring your own shovel (BYOS) party. This way, you don't have to do any back-breaking work. And the people who get the roses have full responsibility for the health of the plant. You can offer some drinks, snacks, use of a pruning shears, photos or descriptions of the roses to be dug up. And maybe some replanting tips. They can provide the shovels, and back-breaking labor. I can't imagine a serious gardener who would be unwilling to join such a BYOS party. Most roses replanted within hours of being dug up in cool spring weather before growth starts will likely survive the move, especially if they have been materially trimmed to within about 18 inches of the ground before being moved. Not that this is likely to be a problem where you live, but you will want to be sure the areas around the roses to be moved are all well watered when the party begins. Good luck! When you dance with nature, try not to step on her toes. |
Name: Frank Mosher Nova Scotia, Canada (Zone 6a)        fwmosher Mar 31, 2018 5:33 PM CST |
| BYOS, good idea Steve! Roses are pretty hardy, and unless subjected to very warm temperatures, will be fine. My bare roots come in, in another few weeks, and they will just be bare roots, in a cardboard box, no wrapping of any kind! If they are still alive when they arrive, I will not lose any! Erica, are you certain you would not like to see them all bloom before you give them away? Just a thought! |
Minnesota (Zone 3b)  RpR Mar 31, 2018 7:00 PM CST |
| Make sure you get as much of the roots as you can, especially the tap root. I found out in the past few year, even though I have been doing this for a long time, screw up saving roots, dead flower. If they have been there a long time there will be far far, far more, and deep, roots to deal with than you can imagine and if this is new to you , have any idea of. By deep I mean often feet not inches. I have moved roses a matter of feet from one garden to the next and when I dig not dig wide or deep enough , end up with a dead rose. I am not trying to scare you, this is simple reality. If your soil is a silty loam , how sandy it is will determine how hard they are to dig up. A lot of sand easy, if you have any hard delta clay, not so much. |
Name: Erika Tacoma (Zone 8b) ekern27 Apr 1, 2018 8:41 PM CST |
IrisLilli said: I'm in the Pacific Northwest so it TOTALLY gets cold enough! Heck! It's still cold which is why I think I should do this now! Thanks for the tip about the newspaper. I was thinking I would have to go invest in burlap or something. Thanks for the help! Erika |
Name: Erika Tacoma (Zone 8b) ekern27 Apr 1, 2018 8:47 PM CST |
fwmosher said:BYOS, good idea Steve! Roses are pretty hardy, and unless subjected to very warm temperatures, will be fine. My bare roots come in, in another few weeks, and they will just be bare roots, in a cardboard box, no wrapping of any kind! If they are still alive when they arrive, I will not lose any! Erica, are you certain you would not like to see them all bloom before you give them away? Just a thought! I did see them bloom last year and there are some beauties! I know there are about 5 I don't want to part with for sure. But There are some beautiful but VERY thorny bushes that keep catching my poor dog, so those will have to go, as pretty as they are... There is one purple bloom that makes me swoon, so that's staying  The rest are beautiful but far too much for me so I'm happy to give them a new happy home.<3, Erika |
Name: Cindi Wichita, Kansas (Zone 7a)         CindiKS Apr 2, 2018 1:10 PM CST |
| Erika you are an angel for giving these away instead of destroying them. I moved many many roses in the heat of summer and they survived. I just used big trash bags with some water squirted into the bags. The secret is to not let the tiny roots dry out, and as others said, water them well before digging, and prune them back. I agree with Steve on letting your rose loving friends do the digging. My cynical self thinks people take better care of something if they work for it. Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get. H. Jackson Brown, Jr. |
Name: Lilli Copenhagen, Denmark, EU IrisLilli Apr 4, 2018 9:22 AM CST |
 You don't know if it will grow until you try! |
Name: Frank Mosher Nova Scotia, Canada (Zone 6a) fwmosher Apr 10, 2018 10:24 AM CST |
Erika, if you have a chance, buy a roll of surveyors tape from your hardware store, all different colours, and just tag the ones you want to keep. Cheers! |
| « Garden.org Homepage « Back to the top « Forums List « Roses forum |
[ Join now ]
© 1972 - 2018 National Gardening Association
Times are presented in US Central Standard Time
