Pruning roses & moving shrubs

hermum

I have what was a patio rose I planted it in the ground a couple of years ago & it's now pretty big can I prune it now as last year I had to keep tying it up as the weight of the flowers was breaking the stems. I didn't get round to pruning it in the autumn.
I also have several shrubs that are in what I now want to be my fruit & veg plots, can they be moved now? :j
I'm in Devon if that makes any difference, in a south facing enclosed garden.
Thank you

Debt_Free_Chick

Now is the time to prune roses, especially as you can see the new shoots.

Autumn is the time to move shrubs, just before they go into their dormant period.

In theory you could move the shrubs now, but you will be giving them a shock to their system at prime growing time, so they could be checked back. And you risk them dying unless you water them well - but I wouldn't risk it in a south facing, sheltered garden in one of the warmest counties in the Country.

Steel_2

I'm going to be controversial here and say that I move shrubs etc during the growing season. They go through transplant shock but seem to recover quite quickly. But I really, really thoroughly prepare.

A couple of weeks or so before moving I slice round the majority of the plant with a sharp shovel and uncover an inch or so of topsoil (I don't touch the tap root/s). This cuts the uppermost fibrous roots and seems to stimulates the plant to generate lots of new fibrous roots as a result, which it will need to suck up enough water to replace what it was getting once the tap root is cut. I make sure the plant is very well watered every day.

10 days to 2 weeks later I prepare a new hole for it, making sure that the ground has everything appropriate to what the shrub needs (fresh compost + blood, fish and bone etc). I then slice the tap root and move the plant quickly to its new home (move in the cool early morning or early evening, not during a hot day). I water it extensively straight after to ensure the soil settles well around the fibrous roots and then continue to water every day until I see the tips of the plant recover. Sometimes I do tip the plant to reduce the amount of growth, but am wary of doing this routinely as the plant needs its leaves to generate energy from the daylight.

hermum

Probably a daft question, Tip the plant? Is that cut it back?
Thank you

annie123

hermum wrote: »

Probably a daft question, Tip the plant? Is that cut it back?
Thank you

Yep,
the amount of root growth supports the amount of plant. Moving the plant often leaves bits of root behind, and being up rooted is a shock to it too, so with less growing plant to worry about the idea is that it will be able to root better and still produce a nice show.
I always prune mine back a bit...depending on the size of the plant, could be 2" or 3foot. But every gardener has they own way of doing things, often found by trial and error, which is probably how you will learn too;)