Question
My Queen Elizabeth (bush) is planted above the pvc pipes for my sewer.  The sewer pipes are about 6-8 ft below the bush, but the rose is not 8ft tall above ground.  Will the rose roots disturb the sewer pipe (all one piece) as it grows?

Answer
It really depends on what type of sewer pipes you have. If they are simply steel pipes which carry the sewage from your house to a septic field farther away, then there is no problem whatsoever as the roots of the rose will not go down as far. And even if they did, they couldn't get into the pipes. However if the pipes are releasing the sewage into the ground as they go along, then I still honestly can't see a problem as rose roots are usually about 4 feet at the most. Most sewage type pipes are usually only required to be 36 inches below ground if the winters get very cold and 24 inches below ground in warm winter areas. Queen Elizabeth is a VERY vigorous grower and if she is planted into a septic field, she will be very happy as she will constantly get fertilizer. But even under those conditions I can't see her growing roots that are 6 feet long. The long rose roots are mainly for anchorage, then they produce thin, tiny white feeder roots. It is these roots that do all the work in taking up and finding nutrients. The reason that you hear warnings about planting shrubs or trees in top of a septic field is usually because the modern pipes are a plastic with perforations all along the base. Because they are not all that deep, rose roots or any type of roots head for them and then push their roots into the holes either plugging them up or moving them around so they crack. I would just make sure the pipes are as deep as you say their are and then don't worry about your rose.