Rose Bushes! (new gardener)

I have 4 or 5 rose bushes and is it possible to transplant them or will it devastate the roots,
and kill the bushes?

Crazybean, sorry no one else picked up your thread, the answer I would give you re new Roses is : it all depends on the Roses, if they are in pots, then leave them in the pots till next spring soon as all danger of frost has passed and the soil is warming up.
If they are bare rooted, you need to get the roots into soil soon as, do this by planting them in individual pots, deep enough to take the whole roots and make sure the stem is inserted right up to the point where the old soil mark was on the root/stem.
In both cases, again depending on your soil and temp you might have to keep the Plants in a sheltered area inside a porch etc, but on saying all this, I think you may have a Canadian gardening slot on this site, if there is, please ask there as they will be more used to your gardening conditions. Good luck WeeNel.

I transplanted a rose bush last February. I waited until the bare root roses started to appear on store shelves. I dug as deep as I could with a shovel to keep from destroying the roots (I still did some damage). The bush did very well this year. It bloomed like crazy!

Info from the Rose forum on transplanting roses
Very young roses grown on their own roots can be moved almost any time. But older roses, especially those on grafted stock will be more difficult. The best time to move roses is when they are dormant; that is when they are not making new growth, that could be a March or April transplant, depending on where you live.But moving is fraught with difficulties because it can disturb much of the root system, tearing off most of the roots that actually feed and water the roses. It happens most with older roses and roses on grafted rootstock. So when you move the roses, you will want to prune them to about a foot high before you dig them up

Before you dig up the plant, water the plant daily for at least a week. This will make it easy to do the digging.

Carefully dig up the rose with as many roots intact as possible, about 18 inches in diameter, for most roses.

Shake off the soil from the rose gently and immediately plant the rose using the Bare Root Method.

You must water well, and always apply a root stimulator to make sure that the roots gets established fast in their new spot. Water good for at least 3 weeks.



Transplanting Established Rose Bushes

Roses that have been established and growing in a spot for many years can be transplanted safely with a little bit of planning.

A couple of months before you do the actual transplanting, you need to root prune the rose before you move it.

This will give the rose a chance to develop a good rootball that is easy to move, and also will be ready to grow in its new spot.


To root prune, you must use a sharp spade to cut through the soil at a slightly inward angle.

Make a circle, using the spade, about 12 to 18 inches from the base of the bush.

New roots will start growing inside the pruning line, and after a couple of months you can safely and easily move the rose to its new location.

Be sure to keep your rose watered in the meantime.



Transplanting Old Roses

To transplant old roses and wild roses, use the same method as when transplanting shrub roses.

If the old roses or wild roses have been growing for many years in the same spot, use the method for transplanting established roses.

Great info here on growing them from cuttings
http://www.rose-gardening-made-easy.com/growing-roses-from-cuttings.html

Thanks everyone so much it all helped so much !

roses love water-but dont like their feet wet (and they love epsom salts once established) make sure they have good drainage..

Help quickly! My rose bush was mulched, then when people from this site said to take it off, the leaves and swelling buds died! What shall I do to save it? The canes are healthy and solid, but the buds are dying.

oh no! why not put back the mulch? the same happened to me when i hadn't watered in a few days - but it quickly regrew with all purpose fertilizer, from the buds below the dead leaves... what kind do you have?

It's not funny lol. (ok it kind of is) Every time i put back the mulch, the leaves begin to brown, possibly from rot. Its a hearty variety called 'Sunflare'. It's an AARS winner, and it's a floribunda rose.

now that rose is living up to a rose's reputation for being picky! but i thought floribundas were easier, hm. i also read the type you have is resistant to foliage diseases. i find your situation very strange. i'm sorry i can't offer you a solution excpet maybe to cut back those canes and allow new ones to grow back and maybe bend the rules a little by mulching with compost instead of mulch-mulch lol.

Do you get freezing temps there in Vincent? If not, then you probably didn't need to mulch it heavily like the instructions say in this link. http://www.ehow.com/how_8293522_care-sun-flare-floribunda-roses.html

It is possible when you scraped back the mulch you had there, you may have damaged some of the feeder roots. With my roses here, I mulch heavily around the plant, but do not allow the mulch to come in contact with the base of the plant...I leave it open 2-3 inches back from the trunk.

Yikes! Wrong city. I meant to put in palmdale, lol! Here, we get frosts, but usually not major killing ones. If it helps, the mulch I use is made of grass clippings, sycamore and Trachelospermum jasminoides leaves, coal and ashes (in very small amounts), and ash tree leaves.

You shouldn't need any protection for roses where you are--this time of year they're supposed to be dormant so I wouldn't worry about buds, come spring it'll be fine. Mulching shouldn't hurt it if you want to do it, but it isn't necessary in zone 8.

Great! The plant looks fine, but the buds have begun to unfold.

Given the unsettled weather across the country, your rose may just be confused. I have irises and hyacinth both blooming right now....the irises are way early, by a couple or 3 months and one of the miniature roses has not stopped blooming. Just give it some time and I am fairly sure it will be fine come spring.

As to the mulch you use, do you allow the greenstuff to break down/compost before you apply it to the beds? Grass and leaves give off a lot of heat as they break down and also use up a lot of nitrogen in the process.

The mulch had been sitting in my backyard for about 4 months, is this to short of a period for composting?

So long as the green stuff has turned brown it shouldn't pose a problem.