What's the best way to transplant a 20 plus year rose bush?

Transplanting should be done before any new growth emerges or after it has finished flowering for best results. If you can not wait make sure you dig very wide around the bush as not to damage the root structure.Do this early in the am before or if your location is already warm.Dig your new hole twice the size and add peat moss.Insert the bush adding soil and tamper down to get any air out. Water regularly until the roots re-establish. Sorry for you loss.

Oh my, so so sorry! Just as Janet said, keep the "root ball" in tact. I would dig the hole in the new location first and have everything prepared in the new rose home ready (cover with a damp old towel to keep from drying out - - then go dig the bush out, wrap the root ball in an old sheet to transfer if any great distance and then plant in new location adding in some fresh rose planting medium to give it a new start. I had to do the same thing when my mom passed. It took two of us, but it was worth it, and that was in June of 2005 and the bush is still alive and thriving in another yard today. You can do it!

if you take a potatoe one with a lot of eyes on it the softer the better! and cut it in half wrap it around the rose bush roots it will grow! you can actually break a piece of it off and do the same thing! the eyes of the potatoe become roots for the plant!

It's best to do it in the winter but if you have to move it right away then cut it back and dig up as much of the root ball as you can. Tear up baby diapers and line the new hole with the water absorbing material that is in the diaper.

Add a small amount of dirt and then water. Put the bush in the hole and add more dirt and water and tamp down firmly until you have the hole nearly full of dirt. Leave a depression about 3 inches deep so you can water it often. Also shade the bush during the heat of the day until it is established.

You could also take a few cuttings from the woody last year's growth just to make sure you have some of the plant in case the large one doesn't live and dip the cuttings in rooting hormone powder available at any nursery. Then fill a flower pot with damp sand, poke holes with a pencil and slip your cuttings into the holes and gently push the sand to tighten around the cuttings. You can start 3 or 4 cuttings per 6" pot. Keep potted clippings damp but not wet. They should root within a few weeks and you will have new rose bushes to transplant into pots until they are large enough to plant in the ground. I do this often when I want new rose bushes.