Moving Roses

Hi Sallysue

It must be getting pretty warm down where you are now and your roses are probably quite far along.
Before you dig, give them a good deep watering the day before. Prune the canes back to about 1 foot tall to make them easier to handle. Go to your local garden centre and get some liquid transplant fertilizer. When you dig the roses, try and keep as much soil around the roots as possible.
Are you planting back in the same area once the grading is finished? If so, and the plants will be out of the ground for any length of time, you will need to keep the root ball cool and moist. Either place them into plastic pots or wrap the root ball in plenty of damp newspaper and then just the root ball into a garbage bag. Place the plants in a cool shady area.
When you replant, make sure your new holes are well dug over and twice as wide as the root ball. Add some well rotted compost or manure to the bottom of the hole along with some bone meal. Backfill the hole about halfway and then fill the hole with water. Let this drain away...it will settle the soil around the roots and get rid of any air pockets. When the water has drained fill the hole again but this time with water and the transplant fertilizer. Let this drain. Once the water has drained completely, backfill the rest of the hole. If possible, set up some kind of shade for the plants for a few days. Their roots will be shocked and won't absorb water well for a few days. Too much sun will end up dehydrating and killing your roses.
For the rest of the season you will have to make sure that your roses get plenty of water. Mulching around them with an organic material such as compost will help a lot. This will help keep the moisture in your soil and help cool the roots.
Don't expect too much from your roses this year. They may take a while to recover. Good luck. :o)