Burying Roses

Hi All,

New poster and gardening noobie here, finally getting around to sorting out my garden...

So I've got 2 rose bushes - from memory some kind of hybrid tea tree rose or something - main stem is 2 or 3 inches thick, good solid bushiness up to about 3 feet, grow every year to about 5 feet before I chop them down to 3 and start again - been there about 10 years.

These bushes sit against a boundary fence which has 2 feet high concrete gravel boards at the bottom and I'm basically going to build a low wall along this fence, fill the gap between wall and boards with earth, making a raised bed.

Poor rose bushes will be sort of in the way, I'd like to keep them so I figure I have 2 options - either dig them out (will only get half the roots out as can't dig under neighbours fence and across his garden to remove), or leave them as they are but bury them in 2 foot of soil with the tops poking out!

Probably a really stupid idea to bury them, would there be any chance at all of them continuing to grow?

Do you all think digging them out would be likely to succeed?

Thanks for any advice,

Steve.

 

Welcome to GC, Steve.

Yes it would be stupid to bury them as they will sucker badly, assuming they are grafted HTs. IMO, HTs are not worth growing for a number or reasons. Others will disagree. I would dig them out and when you’ve done your levels the way you want them plant some more contemporary and healthy roses....or something else.

 

Should digging them out pose too much of a problem, you could cut them down to ground level or even a bit below down into the rootstock, and treat the cut stems with SBK Brushwood Killer.

Doubt they would resurface again, even if they did you could then treat any new shoots with Glyphosate which should not affect anything else in the new raised bed, if applied carefully.

 

Sorry but I have to disagree.
1. Burying a rose, whatever type, does not mean that what is buried will send up suckers. Agreed that some roses and lets be honest here. Most of todays roses are grafted, budded. OK now an then a HT or whatever may send up the odd sucker, If torn off that usually is the end of suckers. I have actually cut back main stems +- 50mm of old roses and new shoots have come forth. I have to question the reason why? Why bury a tree, bush etc.. Surely if it is no longer wanted. Dig it out, replenish the site and plant on.

 

Sometimes burying the stem encourages new growths from higher up ie from the scion rather than the rootstock. For example, we are always told to plant clematis much lower than they were in the pot. So it might be worth a gamble... I have some roses on their own roots and they do well.

 

Hi Caroline, you've got the Clematis thing all wrong.
You plant Clematis lower so that if they get Clematis Wilt new shoots come from the crown of the plant, othetwise the whole plant dies.

 

Buring the mainstem is a well known and practiced procedure. Often used in growin Fuchsias.

 

I would dig them out using a garden fork. The chances are the main root is still your side of the fence and if you can remove that without a problem the rest should pull free. Even if some of the roots break there will be enough for the rose/s to recover. It's a little late to move them now and you may not see flowers this year but they are fairly tough and should be fine next year. When replanting mix the soil with something like blood, fish and bone to give them a boost and keep them watered this summer. Don't sprinkle the fertiliser in the planting hole as it will burn the roots.