United Kingdom 
You were all so kind helping me identify slug/snail damage, I wondered if you could help again. I have several roses in pots, they have been there a long while and are obviously very unhappy even though I feed them regularly. I should like to transfer them to the garden now but am unsure how to remove them from their pots, my husband says break the pots but I am loath to do this especially as one pot was a gift from my mother shortly before she died. Any tips please would be most welcome. Thank you.
5 Aug, 2016
Answers
Make sure the pots are thoroughly watered or soaked before you try to remove the roses, so that the soil in the pot is waterlogged, then take a breadknife or similar long bladed knife and run it round the outside of the rootball, against the pot, and push through the hole at the bottom if it has a large hole. You may need your husband to wear thick gloves and grasp the main stem, at the base of the plant and pull while you pull the pot in the other direction - I had this experience recently, took two of us to get a Phormium out of its pot. This is best done late September or October anyway, in terms of planting them in the ground.
If the pots are narrower at the top than the middle, you won't get them out at all, you will need to break the pot.
5 Aug, 2016
That's the best thing you can do for a rose. Sounds like the soil is really compacted in the pots. Roses prefer loose, rich & fertile soil with good drainage. Try using a trowel to break up the soil in the pots. Go around the edges, as you would for a cake. Tip the pot on its side and gently slide it out.
5 Aug, 2016