What can I do with my mother’s rose bushes?

[WhatAboutTheRoses]

Evening all!

My mother passed away a few years ago, but she had a garden with some rose bushes in it. My father is getting on and doesn’t really have the energy to care for them himself. They are quite established and taller than I am, and produce pretty incredible blooms.

I will be arranging for a gardener to come and prune them going forward. But in the longer term, I know that eventually the house will be sold and the new owner will have no attach enemy to them and probably remove them.

I’d like them to live in and be cared for. What are my options? I understand that roses don’t really like being moved, is that the case? Is my only option to offer them to friends with gardens (there aren’t many in the area, but I could try)? What would you lot do?

I live abroad, so unfortunately cannot take these plants on, though I can help with moving them if that’s what we decide to do.

*Attachment to them. Would be a bit weird of the new owner to consider the bushes an enemy, but some of them are quite thorny I suppose.

Can the Gardener do some cuttings and share them out amongst family and friends?

Cuttings, that is a very nice idea! I will google it now!

My mum's rose has had an interesting few years since she died.

It stayed with my brother and his wife as I didn't have a garden. When they split, my sister-in-law took it with her for safekeeping and it survived several moves with her.

When I finally moved to a house with a garden it came to live with me and seems very happy.

It's well worth finding a home for it (maybe a friend with a garden?) - even if you think you might not be in a position to have it yourself. I feel happy every time I look at it and think of my mum.

I understand that roses don’t really like being moved, is that the case?

Really? I had no idea and dug ours up and divided them between my cousin and me. They all survived.

But maybe cuttings is the safer option. If they don't take you can try again.

Do take cuttings but don’t assume new owners won’t care for them. We moved here 12 years ago and although I don’t love the roses (lilac and yellow) I’m very proud of the fact we’ve looked after them. The man who lived here before died aged 100 having lived here since the 30s and they were obviously his pride and joy.

I understand that roses don’t really like being moved, is that the case?

Depends on the rose, but it's not a complete no no.

A more interesting rose planting problem is they often do really badly if they are planted somewhere a rose has been planted before.

At our old house we inherited some 20 roses and took care of them all. In this house we probably have even more and I’ve just given them a load of manure. We have a lovely climber on a pergola that may be 50+ years old. That has had a good prune this year, and we have moved some of them to other spots. I don’t think it’s necessarily true that they won’t be looked after.

my mum had a huge climber that she was fond of.

When she moved she took a number of cuttings. I had one. It has flourished and is a huge climber at the end of my garden
None of the others took, so she came backa nd took a cutting back from mine, and got herself the rose back.

Very effective, but don't know if it will work for all roses.

Do you know the varieties of roses? Maybe you could buy them where you are?

We moved into a house with well established plants in the garden and look after them with much tlc. Some of them must be over a hundred years old and would have been planted when the house was built. I often wonder who planted them and think about them as part of the story of the house and the people who have lived here.

My NdN gave me a rose stick that was about 7” high this summer. It had a nice healthy looking ball of roots on it.
Over the summer (I planted it at the beginning of June), it has grown to about 3’ high and we had some (3/4) lovely flowers.
I would really like it to do well.
I saw a clip on gardeners world where someone famous planted a rose Bush in someone else famous’s garden. She dug a hole and put a cardboard box in it which she filled with compost and shoved the rose in that. Apparently it works as a way round not using rose beds again. (Can you tell that I don’t know lots about roses?!)

@JenaWren

My mum's rose has had an interesting few years since she died.

It stayed with my brother and his wife as I didn't have a garden. When they split, my sister-in-law took it with her for safekeeping and it survived several moves with her.

When I finally moved to a house with a garden it came to live with me and seems very happy.

It's well worth finding a home for it (maybe a friend with a garden?) - even if you think you might not be in a position to have it yourself. I feel happy every time I look at it and think of my mum.

I love this story. I really love the idea of being able to do something like this. Was it in a pot for the time it was moving? Or always planted into the ground?

@rorosemary

I understand that roses don’t really like being moved, is that the case?

Really? I had no idea and dug ours up and divided them between my cousin and me. They all survived.

But maybe cuttings is the safer option. If they don't take you can try again.

Do you mean you actually divided the plants themselves? I’m being dim, aren’t I? There were many roses and you divided the total quantity, right?

It’s lovely that you want the roses to be cared for. It seems a shame to remove them while your father is still there though.

If the house was sold I wonder if it would be possible to ask the buyers if they want the roses, or if they would like you to arrange for them to be moved.

Roses can be moved, it’s best to do it in winter.

roses can easily be moved. ideally in winter.
many do well in pots

@CovidAnni

Do take cuttings but don’t assume new owners won’t care for them. We moved here 12 years ago and although I don’t love the roses (lilac and yellow) I’m very proud of the fact we’ve looked after them. The man who lived here before died aged 100 having lived here since the 30s and they were obviously his pride and joy.

How wonderful, I love that you care for them.

There are a lot of them in a small garden. I would rather take some steps to presenting them than assume that the next owner will care for them. The area used to be a friendly suburban area, and has declined over the decades into a somewhat depressing place. Lots of people pave their gardens over altogether to make room for (much-needed) parking.

Agree with cuttings, but don’t rule out that the new owners will love them. The hydrangeas in our front garden were planted just after the Second World War (according to our neighbour who is 90 and has lived in the house since birth). They’re still going and I feel a sense of obligation to cherish them, even if they area bit big, pretentious and in the way.

@Herdwick

I understand that roses don’t really like being moved, is that the case?

Depends on the rose, but it's not a complete no no.

A more interesting rose planting problem is they often do really badly if they are planted somewhere a rose has been planted before.

Yes! I just read about that in my foray into rose cutting reading!

@Flamingolingo

At our old house we inherited some 20 roses and took care of them all. In this house we probably have even more and I’ve just given them a load of manure. We have a lovely climber on a pergola that may be 50+ years old. That has had a good prune this year, and we have moved some of them to other spots. I don’t think it’s necessarily true that they won’t be looked after.

Great I hear that you can move them without incident. The climber sounds divine.

There are around 20 bushes in this little garden too. Various sizes and all different kinds. I really love them.

@steppemum

my mum had a huge climber that she was fond of.

When she moved she took a number of cuttings. I had one. It has flourished and is a huge climber at the end of my garden
None of the others took, so she came backa nd took a cutting back from mine, and got herself the rose back.

Very effective, but don't know if it will work for all roses.

Absolutely love that your mother was able to get her own beloved rose back! Superb!

I took a couple of favourite plants from my mum’s garden when we sold it - I got a gardener to pot them up properly. They spent a couple of years in pots while I moved around a bit, and now they are planted in the garden of my house. They all survived fine.

@marthastew

Do you know the varieties of roses? Maybe you could buy them where you are?

We moved into a house with well established plants in the garden and look after them with much tlc. Some of them must be over a hundred years old and would have been planted when the house was built. I often wonder who planted them and think about them as part of the story of the house and the people who have lived here.

Next time I’m there, I will make a drawing of the garden and ask dad about each one and where it came from. “That’s a David Austin rose” or “we got that at the Hampton Court Flower Show in 1995”, they all have stories.

I could buy the same kind here, but it wouldn’t be the same. I want these actual plants to live on.

Really like that you think of your plants as part of the house. The truth is, I’m sure at least some of these bushes, if not all, will end up staying in situ despite what I’m saying on here, especially if I go down the cuttings route. So I’m not too worried about that. They will remain part of the house, at least as far as I can help it. It would be too hard to move so many mature rose bushes. I just want at least some of them to live on in some form.

We moved into our house and the first thing the lady who sold us the house said to us was to keep the rose bush in our front garden alive as it has been there since she's lived in the house for about 40+ years!

Our builders were so adamant about getting rid of it and paving it all up but we refused and so pleased that we still have these gorgeous red roses out still

@Gibble1

My NdN gave me a rose stick that was about 7” high this summer. It had a nice healthy looking ball of roots on it. Over the summer (I planted it at the beginning of June), it has grown to about 3’ high and we had some (3/4) lovely flowers. I would really like it to do well. I saw a clip on gardeners world where someone famous planted a rose Bush in someone else famous’s garden. She dug a hole and put a cardboard box in it which she filled with compost and shoved the rose in that. Apparently it works as a way round not using rose beds again. (Can you tell that I don’t know lots about roses?!)

I love the idea of sharing some rose cuttings with the neighbours, I will ask next time I am there.

The cardboard box thing - is that to avoid the rose problem someone mentioned above?

@JemimaTiggywinkle

It’s lovely that you want the roses to be cared for. It seems a shame to remove them while your father is still there though.

If the house was sold I wonder if it would be possible to ask the buyers if they want the roses, or if they would like you to arrange for them to be moved.

Roses can be moved, it’s best to do it in winter.

Never said I intend to move them while my father is there. Sorry but that has got my back up a bit. This is a long term plan and something that will take time, not something I intend to have to scramble about sorting at short notice.

Taking cuttings for example is not an overnight project, I’d like to ensure that they are established before giving them away.

Good to know about winter. Hope I can make it back for Christmas or shortly thereafter!