Pruning old rose bush

I believe that you prune roses in late Winter but there will be rose experts along to tell you soon😃

Roses are usually pretty tough and tenacious of life. I think it would be fine if cut back quite severely.

I would cut it back by about half now, taking out any dead wood, and feed it and prune it properly in the spring.

Thanks, MaizieD. Husband wants to move it too, but chopping back and moving it might be a step too far? It’s right next to an apple tree and they both need more space really.

I would leave it for now, cutting it back heavily will stress it, which isn’t good when it’s so warm. I definitely wouldn’t move it now either, because disturbing the roots will make them less efficient. Roses are having a tough time of it in the hot weather, they prefer a more temperate climate. It’s a winter/early spring job.

That’s what I gather from looking online, Casdon, but DH is itching to sort it out! I shall hide the loppers and secateurs!

I would, I don’t think the ground conditions would favour moving anything you want to keep at the moment, if your garden is anything like as dry as mine is.

It would be pointless to move it now. You will need to keep it going by soil improvement, frequent irrigation and regular feeding and even then it might not survive another heatwave. Giving it a bit of a tidy up won’t hurt though.
Far better to cut it back to knee height in late autumn/ early winter and transplant to a well prepared site. The soil will still be warm enough to help it recover and it will have a chance to build up some strength in case there are some vicious frosts in January.

Very difficult to move a large rose successfully, dont prune it until November, then cut it back by half all round and remove any dead wood.
Dont try planting new roses in the same place, there is a replant disease.

It’s my understanding that you shouldn’t prune a rambling rose so if it is of that variety then pruning might be detrimental.

Why not replace it with one of your choice that you both like and plant it where DH wants it and just chop the existing one out?

I’m not great on roses (as you can tell!), but I would say it’s a shrub rose.
Yes, maybe replacing it is the way to go. I think we’re both frustrated because the whole garden is so dry.