"Theo" wrote in message ws.com...
If it is the root stock Dr Huey it might
take some effort to exterminate. I'm
still battling a Huey I shovel pruned
2 years ago. Keeps putting out suckers every
2 months or so.

Roses tend to deplete nutrients from the soil so putting
a new rose in the same spot with out some real soil
improvement is not a good idea. When I run into this
situation I typically replace the soil in a 2'x2'x2' volume
with fresh rich humus. Also add a couple of cups of
'time release' rose food pelets at the bottom.

--
When replacing the losers in my garden I excavate a hole about half
again as wide and deep as the pot, put a few handfuls of bone meal at
the bottom of the new hole and fill it with a slurry of manure and
garden soil. I've always felt, without scientific evidence of any
kind, it's also better to remove all the soil from the old hole and
use it as topdressing somewhere else in the garden rather than
replanting the new rose in it.

My thinking with this method is that for the first year or two, most
of the new rose roots will sit in this rich mixture before venturing
off into the soil excavated by the older rose and by then will be
strong enough to fend for themselves. I haven't had one fail to thrive
after doing this.

(Of course, sometimes ignorant neglect works. Two years ago I pulled
out an underperforming John Cabot and threw the bare root under my
deck beside the raspberry canes. Thing wouldn't do anything when
nurtured in great soil conditions but in poor, shaded, acidic soil, it
pushed its roots into the ground and started to grow. Now it's a
living two-foot-tall bush and I'm not going to ever lay a hand or a
pruner on it.)