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.

@pinkbalconyrailing

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

Unfortunately I tried to move one of the small unassuming-looking ones into a pot recently, and the size of the stem and roots shocked me! I actually had to surrender, I couldn’t manage it (would have involved moving a large paving stone). Might have to invest in some very large pots ...

@Lovelydovey

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.

Big and in-the-way they may be, but pretentious? Hydrangeas?

So nice that you care for them. We don’t have a garden, I’d love to have one with a history.

@thereinmadnesslies

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.

What sort of size were they? Some of these roses are 9’ high and completely covered with thorns - tbh I think the ones of that size will have to stay where they are.

@babychange12

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

This is so wonderful! Good on you for keeping it.

We got the biggest pots we could lift; and asked the gardener to chose plants that could be pruned reasonably small initially - they stayed smallish in the pots then they’ve grown loads in the last year since being planted in the ground. Not roses, but fruit bushes.

Just to add, I take huge comfort from having them - every year when the fruit bushes come back to life I think of my mum and happy memories of the garden of my childhood home. Kinda feels like a little gift from my mum.

@thereinmadnesslies

Just to add, I take huge comfort from having them - every year when the fruit bushes come back to life I think of my mum and happy memories of the garden of my childhood home. Kinda feels like a little gift from my mum.

This is the feeling that I want. Oh, I would love to have a garden myself we could move them to.

Pruning small. Of course, that is the answer. I keep looking at the bushes in their current size, but roses can be pruned quite hard, can’t they?

I’m a complete novice gardener but the professional we got in was brilliant at telling me what I could and couldn’t move. I intend to move them again if we move house in the future.

Just to add - when we sold my mum’s house we told the purchasers that we intended to remove some plants for sentimental reasons. It was a probate sale so I guess they understood. We offered to replace but they didn’t want it. It was a well established garden so actually it didn’t look like much was removed.

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?

NdN had had her garden redone and her builder had put a spade through the bush. She didn’t have room for it in the new garden but we have an ugly cast stone type wall between us and I have planted it there which is next to her garden table and head height with her hanging out her washing so she will see it every year when it blooms 😊
I also have lots of her huge geraniums in my front and back gardens. Parking in my street is an absolute pita but I have wonderful neighbours 😍

The box thing was to avoid the issues with planting roses in diseased beds IIRC.

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?

Oh I'm sorry for being vague. Yes you are correct, we dug up 6 rose plants (did something different with front garden), 5 plants were taken by my cousin and put in her garden, 4 of them flowered the next year, the 5th survived but didn't flower. I kept/keep one in a big pot in the back garden and it flowered the following year as well. No idea about the kind of rose, e just liked the colour.

@rorosemary

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?

Oh I'm sorry for being vague. Yes you are correct, we dug up 6 rose plants (did something different with front garden), 5 plants were taken by my cousin and put in her garden, 4 of them flowered the next year, the 5th survived but didn't flower. I kept/keep one in a big pot in the back garden and it flowered the following year as well. No idea about the kind of rose, e just liked the colour.

Not at all, but I was taken with the idea of dividing the plants up like basil! (As you can tell I am not a gardener)