DIY Network

Moving Roses From "DIY Growing Roses" episode DDGR-104

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Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D

If you find that a rose has been planted in the wrong location, moving it isn't a simple matter of digging it up and sticking it in another hole in the ground. A few precautions are necessary in order to avoid harming the sometimes-delicate root system and causing even more problems than you had to begin with. In this segment, host Maureen Gilmer transplants a cabbage-type rose that is showing signs of trauma due to a bad location.

• Transplant Tip #1: Dig around the imaginary drip line to sever the roots properly. Many of the roots you'll encounter are feeder roots, which are located at or near the top of the soil, close to the drip line (figure A). It's okay (necessary, in fact) to sever them as you dig -- the rootball is what you need to be careful with, not the feeders. After you've dug all around the drip line, slide a spading fork underneath the plant to lift it out of the ground without damaging the rootball.

• Transplant Tip #2: Sometimes moving a rose only a few feet can help the growing conditions. Even a slight move to a sunnier location, as in the case of our demonstration, can make all the difference. Here's a great way to move a rose (especially if you can't lift heavy objects). Have a large piece of burlap handy, and carefully set the plant on it (figure B), then drag it to its new location.

• Transplant Tip #3: Don't overfeed roses. Too much food will stress the plants.

• Transplant Tip #4: You can also add a little fertilizer, bone meal and ironite to your backfill soil. There are as many theories on feeding roses as there are rose growers, but all seem to agree that too much food can yield a dead plant! Here's Gilmer's technique for a happy plant:
  1. Sprinkle a few handfuls of granulated rose-formula fertilizer into the bottom of the soil and work it in well.
  2. Next, especially if a plant has some root damage and was traumatized when it was removed from the ground, add a handful of bone meal to promote root growth.
  3. Finally, add a handful or so of ironite to help heal the root system.
  4. Once all the amendments have been added to the soil, set the plant carefully into the hole, making sure the union remains visible above the ground so no rot can enter at that point.
  5. Backfill the hole in layers, carefully packing down the soil so no air pockets remain (figure C). (Any roots that are exposed to air will die.)

• Transplant Tip #5: Check back in a couple of days to make sure the soil is at the proper level.

  Now you're ready to water the rose. You want to flood the base of the plant, but you don't want to wash the soil away. So it's a good idea to water at the highest point and let the water flow down toward the roots (figure D).

• Transplant Tip #6: Let the water seep in. Fill two or three more times before calling it a day.

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Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com

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Author: Steve Schneider
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Houghton Mifflin Co.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com

Roses for Dummies
Model: 0764552023
Author: Lance Walheim
February 2000

Roses: A Growing Guide for Easy, Colorful Gardens
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Author: Mary C. Weaver & George Ball, Jr.
December 1998