Planting new rose bush in same place....

I have read that it is not a good idea to plant a new rose bush where another rose bush was....or that you had to wait a while. (Think it was due to possible infection). Is this true and, if so, how long do you have to wait?

Unfortunately I think my lovely white rose bush was attacked by an anti social neighbour. She has sprayed a neighbour's hedge with bleach and killed it. My rose bush went black and, despite pruning it back, it does not show signs of recovering, i.e. new buds yet. If it was bleach
(and this was about a year ago....rose bush died back) would the soil recover? Around the base
of the rose bush, wild valerian are coming up.

I was hoping to plant a different kind of rose...sunset coloured ones or a hibiscus bush.

 

No, as a rule it's not a good idea, for some reason another rose in the same soil tends to fail and as yet nobody seems to know exactly why this happens. Scientific opinion says it's to do with bacteria but nothing is proven. A new rose in the same place can survive if a large amount of the soil is changed, but it's still a risk.

The soil may have recovered from the bleach and the fact that Valerian is growing there is a good sign, but that is a tough plant and will grow just about anywhere.

Try scraping a small area of a couple of stems and see if they are green underneath, if so the rose may survive. Or try pruning stems to see if there is green inside, if they are brown then the rose is probably dead.

@wiseowl is GC's very own experienced Rosarian and know doubt he will be along to give you some guidance.

 

Thanks Sheal...sounds like good advice!