Saving a Rose

[Streetgardener]

Hi Everyone in the Rose Forum Section,

So, I recently took over my buildings garden (with permission) since they haven't touched it in 5 years. As I cleared the bushes and overgrowth I discovered someone had planted a rose in the garden. The rose has suffered due to being shaded by these bushes and I don't know if it's even possible to save but I thought I'd post a few images and see what you all think.

Attached are three images, it looks rough, but my questions are this:

• Is it salvageable
  If it is salvageable, what should I do to save it (Note: This would be the first rose I EVER worked with).

[imafan26]

considering it was neglected so long and probably was never fed for all that time, it looks like it is a survivor. I'd give it a chance.

[Streetgardener]

Thanks Super Green Thumb, I'm doing some basic online research and have found some intro rose tips...

• Water deeply approximately twice a week
  Remove Dead Wood, Dead Head, Damaged Wood, and Misplaced Stems
  Pruning usually takes place in Spring

With this Rose, it hasn't grown much this year, should I add anything, fertilizer, horse EDITED - PLEASE REPORT THIS POST (So I've heard)?

Alternatively, I remember my mother, who hated gardening, would just cut the roses right down in the fall, should I do the same this fall?

[imafan26]

The one thing you might want ot check on is where the bud union is. If this was a grafted rose and the graft died, then it is the rootstock which is still alive. I do see what looks like dead canes and those can be taken off. Rootstock may still bloom but it will be a mystery. The rootstock from my old Mr. Lincoln just grew and grew and at 8 ft it still did not bloom. It took me a long time to figure out that Mr. Lincoln was gone.

[Streetgardener]

Thanks for all your help Marlingardener and Imafan26!

I'm going to try to get some more photo's of the plant to help us figure this out later today

Imafan26 - Bud union, I'm assuming, means the grafting point? Is this correct?

Marlingardener - I'm in Toronto, Canada, a lil' colder than Texas Our zone is Zone 6 in Canadian text books and Zone 5 in US text books. It will probably get cold around October but not seriously cold until late November. However, last year it was nice until past Christmas. I understand the no fertilizer, but should I also not place any horse dung or compost on it? Sort of remove any encouragement of growth until the spring and than give it a real chance?

One other question, when I was a kid, we had 1 rose bush in a place we moved into, my mother, wasn't a fan of Gardening and would just chop them to the ground each year in the fall, nothing else, she wasn't too worried if the plant died since they were a pest to her Should I prune it down and then place leaves or compost on top to prep it for the winter this fall?

Thanks again for all your help guys!

[Streetgardener]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all your help!

I went down and got a few more photo's and while I was moving some soil for a better photo I noticed something pink in the soil, thinking it was garbage I pulled it and Voila! A tag left by the person who secretly planted this Rose...

So we have a bit of information that will make life a little easier:
The Rose is "Dublin Bay Climbing Rose"
It's Red, Hybrid Tea and is expected to grow between 8' and 10.5'
The person who planted it brought it from a few towns over (30-45min. outside the city)


A quick Google search and it suggests a feeding in spring only and a few basic pruning approaches.

Marlingardener - Should I cut it back now or wait until winter to not encourage growth? The cage idea sounds like a good plan, any tutorials online? Also, I always read you should shred the leaves so that air can get through, but that was with snow landing directly onto the leaves, sans cage.

Thanks again! Here's the images in case they help identify any grafting or potential problems.

Note: These were taken with a cell phone - sorry for the quality

[imafan26]

The bud union is the grafting point. the mulch is still hiding the lower parts of the canes so I don't see it in the pictures. When you cut out the dead wood, make sure your tools are clean and sharp so as not to introduce infection.

[Streetgardener]

Thanks for the help guys.

I moved the mulch off the base by 4-5 inches.

I took some more photos (Apologies for the poor quality), it just rained all day so the mulch wasn't the easiest to get all off the base. When I moved it I noticed one of the off shoots looked blackish or like it had some kind of mould on it, should I cut that part off?

Here's the images of the base:

Here's the images for what I think is mould:

Again, I can't thank you guys enough!

[Streetgardener]

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to update everyone. I removed the mulch, cleaned up things and cut back the mould. I checked on it the other day and it's starting to make a come back.