By Ruthtulloch
Inverness-Shire,
Scotland 
i moved in november,but left behind 2well established rose bushes,with the intention of moving them to my new home when the time is right.what i would like to know,is this now the right time of year,also,as i know longer have a garden of my own (i am now in a ground floor flat with use of the communal garden,which means everything has to be in tubs etc).will roses survive in tubs,if they are big enough.(sorry can,t send a photo).
6 Mar, 2011
Answers
I am assuming that you sold your last house. If you still own it, the picture changes. I note that you're in Scotland where the laws are different, but in England, the rose bushes would have been sold with the house, so you wouldn't be able to come back and get them, unless you had specifically excluded them from the sale and had arranged this with the new owners.
Re the practicalities of what you propose, I think you should be OK to move your roses now, and for a little while, provided they're not too big. I'd suggest that you prune them before moving to reduce strain on the roots. Keep the roots wrapped and moist while out of the ground. Assuming they're not vast, sprawly ramblers, I'd have thought they'd be OK in pots and tubs with the size to suit the size of the plants.
6 Mar, 2011
Having now read Moongrower's answer, I think that, unless these particular roses are of sentimental value, you'd be better off choosing roses to suit the pots you want to use. Patio roses should be fine, but you'd always be pruning large-growers and fighting to keep them sized to the pots or tubs.
6 Mar, 2011
i dug up two roses from my in-laws before we sold there house,20year old plants.one survived and one didn't,so if you are allowed i would give it ago,my view was,i wouldn't see them if i left them there but might have a chance of seeing them if i took them and they survived,also depend on the people who have bought your house,if theres a chance they would dig them up anyway them you have nothing to lose.fingers corssed for you.
6 Mar, 2011
But did you then plant them in the ground or in tubs PM? If Ruth could legally dig them up and if she could then plant them in the ground it would be worth a try but into tubs... I'm not so sure.
In any case it is all academic unless the two rose bushes were specified as not being part of the sale.
6 Mar, 2011
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« Hello everyone, So sorry I haven't been in touch for so long. I was away for...
Hi Ruth and welcome to Goy. Firstly unless it was expressly stated in the sales papers that the rose bushes were not part of the sale you have no right to move them. Secondly two 'well established' bushes are not going to take kindly to being dug up and put into tubs, much better to start afresh with new bushes.
6 Mar, 2011