A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 question about roots when planting a rose in container

Hi all!
I just purchased 7 new rose plants in the 2-gallon plastic containers. I have already prepared the soil and am ready to transplant them and would like to know how much of the existing soil should I loosen up from the roots before putting them in the ground? I don't want to do any damage to them, but should I gently shake any loose soil off or should I shake (for lack of a better word) the majority of the soil off or ???? I'm very, very, very new at this and don't want to hurt the plants at all. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time!
The Becky

the beck,
i wouldn't get rid of any of the soil. I would just "scrunch" the bottom of the dirt,after taking it out of the pot,just to loosen the roots and then plant it in the ground where it will be permanently.
hope this is helpful

TheBeck,
I know for planting bare root rose's,
you dig a hole, make a mound in the middle of
the hole at the bottom with some of the dirt you dug out, take your bare root rose,
fan out the roots, and place on top of the mound,
spread out the roots, and then cover..
and depending where the union is, and your growing zone is how deep you plant it...

Sorry I couldn't be more help for a potted rose plant???
Not 100% sure of an answer to give you????

Stick around, I'm sure you'll have a few more gardener's that may be coming thru to give you some more help....

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Hey Becky

Deja vous! You sound like me a few months ago. I went gung ho and planted a rosebed with 6 (?) bushes.

What I'd suggest first is no matter what the tags say DON'T plant it pot and all. The one rose bush I lost, I did that way, following the directions. I don't think the pot broke down as fast as it was supposed to

When I planted, I put a small handful of rose food in the bottom of the planting hole, and scratched it in, then layered a bit of soil on top (you don't want it to touch the roses roots - it'll burn them). Then, roll yer pot around on it's side to loosen it up, support the bush with your hand between your fingers, and turn the pot upside down. It should slide out fairly easily from rolling it around Then, "tickle" the bottom of the roots where they're kinda bound and wrapped around from the pot holding them in. Tickle until they seem fairly lose (but not completely free from soil) around the bottom and outside of the root ball. Then place it according to your hardiness zone (in some zones the union needs to be slightly above or below the soil so check to make sure you're planting at the right depth for your area) No need to shake off any soil before planting - just make sure yer hole is dug big enough to accomodate and you'll be fine! Oh, last thing, try to do this early in the morning, or on an overcast day to give them a bit of protection from the harsh sun while they're settling into their new home. It's not odd to walk by my yard and see an umbrella sheltering a new transplant

Good luck! Keep us posted and let us know if you have any other questions! There are lots of helpful and friendly gardeners here!

Go Mary,

That was a really nice discription. I think I may have to paste that into my garden journal. Someday I will probably try a rose.