Replacing roses, help please.

[woolybanana]

I need to replace a rose that has died, having been planted maximum a couple of months ago. Would it have had time to ‘poison’ the ground for other roses or can I simply pull it out and stick another in?

Help please if anyone has any ideas. Much appreciated.

[andyh4]

It depends why it died, but in such a short period of time I think you can take a risk. Just dig out the old one with a goodly amount of the soil around it and put the replacement in with fresh soil - not what you have dug out.

I cannot remember now which of the TV gardening gurus said it but, "If you buy a ten bob plant, dig a ten pound hole." still holds true for me.

[woolybanana]

Yes, Andy, well, I was trying to save a rose in distress but on pulling it out, it seems not to have rooted at all, too far gone by the look of it, which is sad.

So, a good sized hole it will be and a new rose, one of the cuttings from Oiseau’s former house in the Vendée some of which are doing rather well in their pots.

Many thanks for the erudite comments.

[Yonner]

We pruned some roses heavily last year, and OH, having seen on the web somewhere that the offcuts root easily, decided to just stick half a dozen pieces, about 15cm long into compost in a pot.

Low and behold, this spring there are leaves growing on them. We've lifted one out of curiosity and there don't appear to be any roots to speak of, but the leaves are appearing.

Moral of the story - if you like the rose, take a cutting or two before you bin it, and see what happens. You've nowt to lose!

[Noisette]

That's what I did with old, established roses that I couldn't bring from the UK garden. Made a slit trench in some reasonably sandy soil in the shade and stuck 15" cuttings, pencil thick, into the trench. Every one rooted and the added bonus is that they don't sucker from a grafted rootstock. That's a common problem with bought roses.