- 1). Water the rosebush daily for at least a week before transplanting.
- 2). Dig the hole where the rosebush will be placed. The hole should be approximately 18 inches wide and 15 inches deep.
- 3). Prune the rosebush canes using garden shears. Cut away any dead or dying growth, making cuts just above leaf joints. Prune canes back approximately 3 feet, to 1/3 of their original lengths.
- 4). Dig 15 inches into the soil around the rosebush, making a 9-inch circle. Cut any roots you encounter while digging the circle, using shears.
- 5). Dig underneath the rosebush and lift it out with a shovel.
- 6). Add 2 to 3 cups of fertilizer to the bottom of the new hole, mixing it with the soil and stacking the soil in a cone shape.
- 7). Spread the roots of the rosebush gently by hand and place the bush over the soil cone you built in the bottom of the hole. Backfill the hole halfway with soil.
- 8). Water down the soil thoroughly, soaking it completely. Allow the water to drain for a few minutes, then fill the hole with soil until it is level with the surrounding ground.
- 9). Spread a ring of soil around the newly transplanted rose bush. If you have none left over from the new hole, borrow some from the hole where the rosebush was originally planted. The soil ring should create a mound approximately 1 to 3 inches high in a 9-inch diameter around the bush.
- 10
Water the rosebush thoroughly again, until the soil under the bush is completely saturated. The soil ring will help hold in the excess water. Allow the area to drain before adding more soil to level out the hole. - 11
Add a 2-inch layer of mulch to the soil around the rosebush, completely filling in the area inside the soil ring you created.