Rose needs help

Hi everyone I'm new here and need some advice on how to save a rose, if possible!

It was here when I moved in, looking very sorry for itself. I assumed it was a climber so moved it to a better positioned flowerbed with fresh compost.

I've put it around 30cm away from the fence, is this close enough?

It's very leggy so wondered if I should cut it back to make it more bushy, or do I wait til its grown more before worrying about that? I also don't like the look of some of the leaves. There's lots of brown spots and some have black spots which I believe are diseased?

Any advice is much appreciated thanks

 

Hi @Hlt93

The positioning looks fine to me. It's difficult to tell from the photos but I think it would have benefited from being buried a bit deeper. I would just add a bit more compost.

While it would definitely benefit from a good prune overall, I am not sure that now is the right time for a hard prune. Pruning promotes new growth, and you don't want to have fresh growth right before the cold weather starts. In the UK, roses are usually pruned around late February. On the other hand, when transplanting roses it can help to bring down the size, because transplanting temporarily damages the roots and the rose can't absorb as much water and nutrients as before. So I'm not 100% sure.

Hmm... I think what I would do is give it a very light prune for now (especially the blooms, you don't want it to spend energy on blooming when it should be spending it on re-establishing its roots). Then a hard prune in February. The hard prune + removal of any fallen leaves will sort out any issues with blackspot as well.

 

As winter closes in prune you rose about 1/3. Come the spring prune as far down as you can just above a new growing bud with a sloping cut.

 

I agree with @CostasK. If it's a climber I wouldn't prune the tallest strongest stems down in February but I would remove the skinny straggly stems and prune the side shoots on the main stems to a few inches. Feed it in March and keep it moist.

Roses often look a bit the worse for wear at this time of year. It does look quite old though from it's roots and it doesn't seem to have any fine feeding roots. You will find out next year whether it has survived the move.

I moved a rose that was over 20 years old last year and it has survived and bloomed this year.