How to Transplant Old Roses

Roses, an all-time favorite of gardeners everywhere, offer summer-long bursts of color with their delicate multi-petal blooms on long stems or climbing branches. From season to season, a rose’s root tendrils reach deeper into the ground to find nourishment. A mature rose is a sight to behold, but moving one to a new location is a formidable task that most gardeners avoid as long as possible.

Things You'll Need

• Long, narrow spade (one or more)
• Burlap
• Wheelbarrow
• Compost
• Bone meal
• Pruning nippers
• Water

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Instructions

• 1

  Wait until the rose is near dormancy in the late fall, or while it is still dormant in the early spring before transplanting.

• 2

  Prune the old rose stems back to within 3 feet of the ground. If you pruned the rose earlier, that’s even better. Make your cuts on the stems at a 45-degree angle, sloping downward.

• 3

  Choose the new spot for your rose. Find a location with good drainage and full sun. Roses will tolerate partial shade, but they will produce more blooms in a sunny spot.

• 4

  Use the spade to cut downward and slightly inward 8 inches to 10 inches away from the root mass that extends just above the ground. Using your foot to drive the spade into the ground, cut a circle all the way around. As you dig, put slight pressure on the spade, encouraging the root mass to lift from the hole.

• 5

  Enlist some help at this point if the root ball and the soil are too heavy for you to lift. If you have additional spades, insert them at the point of the cut and push down to lift the root ball.

• 6

  Lift and move the root ball to a large piece of burlap positioned beside the rose. Quickly gather the corners of the burlap around the rose stem and tie them up to prevent soil from dropping away from the roots.

• 7

  Dig the new hole at least three times as wide as the root ball and twice as deep. Fill the bottom half with a mixture of compost and bone meal. Add 1/2 cup of bone meal for every 2 cubic feet of compost. Wet the compost thoroughly.

• 8

  Transport the rose in a wheelbarrow for ease of movement. Mature roses are very heavy when the root ball and surrounding soil are intact. Lift the rose from the burlap and quickly position it on top of the compost in the hole, positioning the top mass of the root ball just above the ground. If you attempt to set the rose lower, it may stunt the growth.

• 9

  Fill in the space around the root ball with compost, adding water as you go to keep it moist. Pack the compost gently.

• 10

  Make a raised bowl from soil and compost around your rose, encouraging water retention around the root ball instead of draining away. Water the rose every day, saturating the ground. This is the easiest way to ensure the survival of the transplanted rose.