Moving A Leggy Dwarf Rose

[interele]

I have a dwarf rose (and no gardening skills)
a few years ago I just plonked in the garden
in a shady area and forgot about it. It is now
tall and lanky. It seems a shame just to dig it
up and skip it. Is there any thing I can do to:-
1 move it without killing it
2 make it look a bit more like it suppose to

Ta

M

[woofgang]

yup. and now is the time. Take off about 2/3 of the legginess and dig it up with a huge rootball. Replant in a large pot or in the garden in improved garden soil and keep well watered if its not wet. if it turned frosty, protect with frost webbing or straw or even newspaper, uncovering each day when the day warms up. let it get growing and give it a year to settle then start reshaping it next year.

[Brinjal]

Roses like a sunny place.

[Clanad]

As the others have said, the "leginess" is mostly likely due to lack of direct sunshine. However, since it's a dwarf variety that means it's a hybrid. As you prepare to transplant it, inspect to see if any shoots have come from beneath the graft knob, which will be noticeable just above the root area on the main stem. If one or more canes are growing from below the graft then you may as well trash the little plant. The plant has "reverted" and is growing from the wild rose root. The canes will never produce blooms and will take up the rose's energy in producing these fast growing canes.

Let's hope that's not the problem. Additionally, here in the U.S. there are smallish rose fertilizer "spikes" one can buy that are inserted into the soil around the plant (maybe two or three). They're formulated just for roses and will last the entire growing season.

[interele]

I dug it up and hacked it back. The shoots seem to come from the graft itself
rather than above or below it... Is that good or bad ?

Ta

M

[woofgang]

not good, new shoots should come from above the graft.

[interele]

rats !