[potatopotato]

I've got a lovely rose bush in my plot that I want to move, of course I don't want to kill it. I've heard that the best time to replant is in Winter, is this right? How much of it should I prune before I move it?

ps. I don't know what type of rose it is. I got it cheap in the garden centre because it didn't have a label.

[Aunt Sally]

best to treat as a maiden (the rose not you) and hard prune it  

[WG.]

How big is the bush now please?  Height?  Spread?

[Trillium]

I've replanted grown rose bushes before and this is the best time. However, I wouldn't prune anything until spring or you risk infections and bigger die-offs from cold weather and rain. The plant is already dormant (I assume) so there'd be no water loss or other reasons for pruning.
Dig up as much root as possible, try to keep it all as one ball in dirt if possible for best success. In the spring you can tackle any die-back and shaping. In the hole bottom I'd add some compost or well rotted manure and some bonemeal. A few banana peels are good too.

[Aunt Sally]

Just found an interesting article on moving a rose bush:

http://ezinearticles.com/?2-Ways-to-Safely-Transplant-Rose-Bushes-of-Any-Age&id=79532

[gobs]

I've replanted grown rose bushes before and this is the best time. However, I wouldn't prune anything until spring or you risk infections and bigger die-offs from cold weather and rain. The plant is already dormant (I assume) so there'd be no water loss or other reasons for pruning.
Dig up as much root as possible, try to keep it all as one ball in dirt if possible for best success. In the spring you can tackle any die-back and shaping. In the hole bottom I'd add some compost or well rotted manure and some bonemeal. A few banana peels are good too.

I'd second that with adding that all my perpetual and repeat roses are still in flowers and buds here, even my late rambler is sporting some blossom still.

I would leave moving it till Feb-March time, depending on the weather, which also will be a good time for pruning. This will depend on type, etc as WG asks.

Saying all that, do I dare to add(?) that roses are tough as old boots, got to try hard to kill one.

The really important thing is, don't do it, when the soil is frozen, and plant below  the graft point if it is a grafted one.

Disclaimer: take a few cuttings before you start. Only kidding.

[gobs]

Why not post a piccie, if you do not know, what it is,someone might be able to make an intelligent guess, close enough. When you say bush, do you mean as a type of rose? As in bush tea rose?

[potatopotato]

The plant is already dormant (I assume)

No. It still has leaves and even, when I looked at it this week, even a flowerbud that looks like it might open still. I had planned to move it this week but then changed my mind when I saw that it wasn't dormant (as had heard it was best to move them when they were dormant).

I bought this bush about a year and a half ago and planted it last year - it is about two feet tall (I think?) and has been very healthy - it made a lot of flowers this year. I pruned it after it flowered but didn't want to prune it too much because I thought it was probably best to make sure there were still leaves on it when I moved it - or is that not necessary?

Some helpful advice on here, thanks everyone. Reading this thread I'm thinking that I might leave it until February to move it.

Hopefully by that time my little red worms will have made me some compost I can put in with it when it gets moved!

[gobs]

Sounds like a hybrid tea to me. Plant with bottom branches covered with a few inches of soil, prune to reduce branches by 3/4 to 1/2, take out some old, thick branches if you have any.

[potatopotato]

Sounds like a hybrid tea to me. Plant with bottom branches covered with a few inches of soil, prune to reduce branches by 3/4 to 1/2, take out some old, thick branches if you have any.

What's a good time of year? Would February be ok?

[gobs]

Yes, that would be my fancy time for it. Before buds start to swell.

[potatopotato]

Right, gobs - thanks.

I've got it all in here now (taps temple with index finger).

[chrissie B]

we have moved all our roses to give them a better position and had no bother we always do it this time of year once they have been pruned they all seem happy enough.
chrissie b

[gobs]

I've moved my roses any time of year without problems, feel so though, that would not be the bestest, safest advice to give.

Saying which, quite a few rose varieties are pretty much evergreen in mild winter climates, so a perfectly dormant state for those might never come.