Question
I live in the northwest corner of Alabama.My childhood home has been purchased to make room for new industry in the area.The property will be leveled and I dug up five rose bushes that belonged to my great great aunt.They are 75 to 80 years old.I waited as long as I could but had to dig them up the last week of September to avoid the dozer's.The ground here is very hard due to the lack of rain and the roots on these roses went very deep into the ground so I had a tough time getting them up.Some broke at the root making three plants from one.I planted them in my yard as soon as I got them home.I surrounded the roots with compost manure and watered.Due to there age and conditions of transplant,what can I do to help them adjust.For 75 years they have never known another home and the soil in my yard is not as lush and rich as the farm soil of my childhood home.Will they go into shock and do you think I damaged them having to get rough when digging them up? I really would like for this part of my family to continue on.

Answer
Right away take some cuttings off each bush to make sure you will have the same bushes if the other main ones die. Cut about 8 inches off the tip of a cane that has flowered this year. Take about 6 to 8 cuttings off each bush. Select a place in your new garden where the hot sun doesn't reach the cuttings all day. Buy a bag of potting soil (it is bacteria free) and fill up the space or the pot for the cuttings. Take all the leaves off the cuttings leaving only the top two. Place them in the potting soil until the top two leaves are resting on the soil. Keep them damp but not wet all the time. Keeping them damp will make sure they will be easier to make new roots. Don't forget to name them and you can plant them quite close if you want to such as 3 inches apart.
Now in regards to the big bushes. The top 12 inches are usually the feeder roots and the rest are anchor roots so don't worry about breaking those off as the feeder roots are the most important. However because you have disturbed the feeder roots and probably damaged them digging the huge bushes out, you will have to cut the bushes back by a half as the damaged feeder roots can't supply a large bush with nutrients. It would also be a wisdom to also cut out any dead or very twiggy growth. You will also have to keep watering, watering and watering, to make sure all the roots never dry out for at least a couple of months. I would also place a mulch of anykind you can get in your area all around the big roses as roses love cool, damp roots and this will give them that. Don't be concerned if your big roses droop and look sad. Roses hate to be moved and will usually go into a snit for a while. You may not even see new growth for a few months but just keep watering and ignore them. The manure is enough fertilizer for now. I would wait a year before i gave them any more fertilizer and then I woul use something organic such as more manure or even fish fertilizer. I am not organic, but chemical ones could cause problems with the roots if your soil is not as rich as the original and because the roses mean so much to you, they will have to be treated gently until they get their old vigour back again. Hope this helps.