Hello All!! My husband has the idea of digging up our roses - he seems to know how, and storing them in the garage somehow until spring. How safe is this for our roses??
Where do you live? That will make a lot of difference in whether they should be dug up or otherwise protected.
Hi there. :-D I've never stored roses as I simply cut mine well back in autumn and leave them in the ground. I live in Scotland where the weather drops to well below freezing in the winter and yet the roses come back each spring without any problems.
We live in Western Washington. We are planning on digging them up because our soil is COVERED in weeds. So we're takin everything out and starting over. A total project! He thinks the roses should be dug up now, I'm kinda thinkin that it is all unnecessary and it can wait. ??
If it's freezing the roses will be in hibernation, so this is a good time to move them as long as you can dig in the ground. If I were you, I think I'd try to pot them in large pots and put them somewhere sheltered outside. Or put them straight into dirt bags that you cut open in one end. The main goal is that the roots won't freeze or dry out. Good luck, and please keep us updated with what you did and how it went.
I have never heard of digging up your roses and storing them....I am pretty sure they won't bloom this way. They take a year to make a good root system and then they will bloom. I live in Vermont and we just cover the bottom of the plant with a lot of leaves and then let the snow protect them. They come back every year. I would wait until spring and then dig them up if you want to move them.
Digging-up roses can sometimes be a tricky business. As droopy says, keeping the roots protected from freezing and not letting them dry-out is paramount. There are many gardners that I know that say that when moving an adult rose bush it is best to prune at that time. I personally find it too cold to do that now as pruning stimulates growth...and for that reason, I would suggest holding-off with lifting your bushes until the early beginning of spring. Now, having said that I must tell you that two years ago I dug-up a rose bush and gave it to a lady down the way from me at the lottie complex. She wanted to save it since I was planning to throw it away. It was in sept. and I gave it to her with instructions. A month later it was still leaning up against the fence out in the elements. She put it's feet in a bucket of water at one point. Finally the lady plopped it in the ground and everything went brown, She didn't prune or fertilize. The following spring we could see signs of re-juvination, It did not bloom, but it is still alive. What this all means is that roses are quite hardy things, but if the rose plant is a dear one to you, I would not be so cavalier with it's treatment--I would treat it in such a way that it would have the greatest chance for survival.
