Growing Things: How to safely transfer roses to prevent shock

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Q: A few weeks ago I was compelled to relocate two of my rose bushes to make room for a new oak tree. One had to be moved a metre and half over in the same large planter, the other I moved about five meters away into an area with only a slightly different orientation to the sun (the bush now has more direct exposure). The first was out of the ground for about 15 minutes, the second for less than an hour, and the two of them received plenty of water from the time they were transplanted.

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Both bushes very quickly went into shock, and the leaves on both of them completely dried up in a matter of days except a small cluster that remained green on the second bush. Have I done anything to kill them, or are they likely to bounce back next spring? Is there anything I should do to improve their chances of surviving? They had been growing on my property for six years and always produced lots of flowers.

A: Yours is a bit of a complicated question to answer. Let’s begin by talking about the digging out of the roses first. You may have damaged a large part of the root system when you were digging. This, on its own, could certainly have caused the shock to set in. Also, anytime you dig out a plant to transplant leaving the roots exposed to the air for any period of time can cause the plant to go into shock. If it was a hot day when you were doing the move and the roots were exposed to the drying sun or wind could be another cause of shock.

I can tell you what I like to do when transplanting. I make sure that the hole that is receiving the plant is ready to go. I add compost to the soil in the hole and I wet it making sure the water penetrates through the compost.  Only when the hole is ready do I start to dig out the plant. In this way, I can move the plant immediately into the hole and lessen the exposure of the roots to the wind and sun. I also water the bejeebers out of the plant after the move. This extra watering regime is maintained for at least 2 months after the move.

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Your plants may recover. Even the one whose leaves have completely dried up may survive. The only thing you can do is water, water and water and hope for the best.  You might also try cutting the plants back a bit. I would take off a quarter of each plant. Sometimes this helps as the roots have less plant to provide water and nutrients too during the recovery. Good luck!

Every week, Growing Things Outdoors runs online at edmontonjournal.com or, if you prefer an epaper format, epaper.edmontonjournal.com

Learn more by emailing your questions to filipskigerald@gmail.com, reading past columns or my book Just Ask Jerry. You can also follow me on X, formerly Twitter, @justaskjerry01.

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