I am trying to salvage a strong hearted rambler that I brought home because
it had overgrown it's allotted apace. When it was previously planted it
looked like a dead stick and I gave it little chance of survival. It proved
me wrong and took off in all directions to the point where it became
unwelcome. I pruned it to the ground in December and moved it in March. Now
this thing has more than 30 shoots coming from all it's basals. Obviously
way too many but if I cut most off to get a manageable number will they just
re-grow? Is there any helpful technique like tearing them like water spouts
in fruit trees? I have no idea what the rose is, it has light pink flowers
with no fragrance numbering into the dozens. One interesting thing I found
when I dug it up was that it had one large root 3" in diameter that went
straight down for a foot and a half, made a right angle turn and continued
for 6-8" and died. It was hard as lumber. It also has a number of surface
roots that curl down like a skull cap that only extend 6-8". I question if
the root system could support the kind of cane growth it has if left alone
to say nothing about what I would have to build to support it.
Any help on saving this hearty devil would be appreciated.

steve stidham wrote:

I am trying to salvage a strong hearted rambler that I brought home because
it had overgrown it's allotted apace. When it was previously planted it
looked like a dead stick and I gave it little chance of survival. It proved
me wrong and took off in all directions to the point where it became
unwelcome. I pruned it to the ground in December and moved it in March. Now
this thing has more than 30 shoots coming from all it's basals. Obviously
way too many but if I cut most off to get a manageable number will they just
re-grow? Is there any helpful technique like tearing them like water spouts
in fruit trees? I have no idea what the rose is, it has light pink flowers
with no fragrance numbering into the dozens. One interesting thing I found
when I dug it up was that it had one large root 3" in diameter that went
straight down for a foot and a half, made a right angle turn and continued
for 6-8" and died. It was hard as lumber. It also has a number of surface
roots that curl down like a skull cap that only extend 6-8". I question if
the root system could support the kind of cane growth it has if left alone
to say nothing about what I would have to build to support it.
Any help on saving this hearty devil would be appreciated.

Thirty shoots is a large number, which indicates to me that this wants
to be a very very large rose. The best way to save it is to plant it
somewhere it can grow to the size it is genetically programmed to be.
Roses this large can sometimes be persuaded to grow up a pillar that is
very tall - 12 feet or more - so you wind the canes around it. There
are a number of easy ways to construct pillars, depending on the
ultimate size of the rose. But you must put up something stout enough
to support the weight, 4 x 4 minimum. I've used tee pee poles (12 foot)
sunk in Quickcrete as well.

Don't worry about the roots: there is a feedback relationship between
the top growth and the root growth if the rose is in the ground and you
aren't fertilizing it to death. The roots will stimulate top growth and
the top growth will provide photosynthesized food source to fuel more
growth and energy storage. That 3 inch anchor root you moved stored up
a lot of sugars to fuel the regrowth of this rose. It will produce it's
own small white feeder roots as it establishes.

As you keep pruning this new wood, you prune off flower production!
Ramblers tend to flower on wood produced the previous season, which is
why they are pruned in the late spring or early summer, after they have
bloomed for the year. At that time they can be viciously pruned, to the
point of removing all but 6 or 8 canes. They are not pruned in the
winter, other than minimal shaping.