Moving and pruning roses

[Fluandseptember]

We have some roses that just flop and gangle, and I want to take them in hand. DH has always been in charge of pruning but it hasn’t worked, and I want to wield a knife!

So: I know it’s the wrong time to prune, and will mean no flowers this year, but will I actually kill them if I do it now?

How harsh can I be? I want them either to grow into rose garden sort of bushes, or I’ll pin them to the wall and they can climb and then flop higher. Do I need to leave visible buds? Do the stems need to be green? Can I go back behind pruning points?

And then moving them - I wAnt to move them back in the bed by about 18 inches. Anything I need to be aware of?

15 years in, am finally getting to grips w the garden...

Roses are quite tough, you can prune them now, but risk any early flowers ( as you said). You might get late summer flowers.
I’ve revived neglected roses by serious summer pruning in new gardens and they’ve always grown better. Climbing roses should have the main stems fixed in an arch. The new flowering growth stems then grow vertically. This should stop the flopping.
After pruning give them a feed with rose food.
I wouldn’t move anything until the Autumn.

Thank you! Oh grrr re not moving...

Do you think I can prune back to a foot or so from the ground? They’re about 7 foot high at the moment (w lovely buds, sniff) but I have things arriving that need the space!

If they're 7 ft high, they're definitely climbers or ramblers. They need fastening to the wall. If you did this, could you postpone the drastic pruning till the autumn and still get the flowers this year?

If you don't want a climbing or rambling rose, you could actually dig them up and throw them away, and plant a bush rose instead.

Roses are tough old things. In your circumstances I would move them now. Prune them quite hard and water them well. Let them soak for a good long time.. In the evening dig them up and look at the root system. Usually they have a long tap root and other roots which are finer. Trim the tap root so that it is manageable and tidy the other roots. Plant the, in good quality compost and keep them well watered during the summer. Always water in the evening. I would not feed them, instead make sure you have good compost around the roots. It is better to clear out as much stale soil as you can.

I pruned an out of control rambler last year to about 12 inches and it is only just getting it’s act together. You might have to wait a couple of years for the rose to really flourish again. There will be most of the activity going on underground where it will be putting down strong roots.

Next year when you see green shoots in the spring you can begin feeding.

Have chopped them brutally and moved them. Let's see what happens! I decided it was that or lose them completely, and they're quite lovely. Fingers crossed they'll make it!