I had a rose bush that didn't die when the weed wacker was taken to a jungle area. I've never done anything with it. I noticed some blooms on it last year, I think they were pink. This year it didn't get a chance to bloom because my husband ran the lawnmower over it a couple of times trying to keep the weeds down and after I protested he stopped mowing it. It keeps growing back but is a nuisance because when it gets big enough it droops over the sidewalk and thorns grab people walking here. This side of the house area is about to become a driveway. Rose had 2 options: buried under new driveway or getting transplanted. I decided to try to save it and dug it up. In doing so I discovered a huge root system, going well under the sidewalk. I couldn't dig out all the roots or pull them so I chopped it. A smaller rose bush, about 6" or so, was starting to come out of the same root system about a foot away so I transplanted that one too. Back of the shed, good soil, an area that gets sun in the morning and early afternoon. I gave them rose food when I replanted them. The little one looks OK but hardly any leaves on it to begin with. The other one is about 3' now and some of the leaves are looking droopy, this happened within a day or so I noticed the droopy leaves. Is this normal for a transplanted rose? And yes I realize the paint at the back of the shed is peeling! Ha ha. Its an old shed circa 1965. The house is that old too and updates take priority over painting the shed, which might be done next year. Rose transplanted at back of shed. ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden ) Droopy leaves on transplanted rose ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden ) Small rose that offshoot from same root system. ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden )
Your Rose is definitely in shock and the drooping is normal. Keep it well watered and it should spring back - but it may take a while.
This is typical transplant shock. Keep the rose well watered, as Netty said, and also keep it in the shade until it recovers. I put an old umbrella over a recently transplanted shrub until it perks up. If you don't have an old umbrella, any kind of shade that you can rig will do fine. Don't fertilize it now. It has enough to do keeping its existing foliage without being stimulated to produce more. If this rose has gone through being neglected, weed-whacked, and mowed down, I'll bet it survives and rewards you with some lovely blooms!
Thanks! I was just hoping it might be transplant shock because the leaves started to droop the next day. Not the green leaves though, just the red colored ones drooped. Not really getting much sun since I transplanted it a week ago. Rain and cloud cover is more like it. Actually now that I think of it, it was the bush machine not the weed wacker that my husband took to the area 3 years ago. In other words a heavy duty weed wacker! It was a nicely tended garden at one time, but several years of renters and neglect turned it into a jungle. We find if we keep the weeds mowed down regularly it almost looks like an ugly lawn. Yes, I'm hoping after all its been through that it will survive in its new location. I spent a lot of time digging deep down in that small area and pulling out at least 100 nasty muscari bulbs that have gone wild transplanting everywhere they can in our front, back, and side yards. And I just know I didn't get them all. I'm trying to turn this small patch into a home for unwanted plants that will otherwise meet their demise if they stay in their current location.
