Thank you all for the very useful advice. I do look for information on the internet but I'm never sure how this well translates into the 'real world' or a specific situation so it's always good to hear from people with experience.
Re my post back on 2nd January, l moved "Duchess of Cornwall", and am pleased to report it survived and is flowering even as we speak.
However, l now have "Graham Thomas" which needs to be moved about a foot - 18 inches. It doesn't sound a great distance, but unfortunately it needs to be done. It's been in the ground 5 and a half years and is around 5 and a half feet tall. It's flowering at the moment with some more buds to come. One side of it has black spot, and l picked off some sawfly caterpillars yesterday. Ideally l would like to move it now, but if absolutely necessary l could wait until the middle of September (so only a couple of weeks).
Would l be better pruning it right down to around a foot to eighteen inches high before starting to dig, or should l only reduce it by the bare minimum to be able to move it fairly easily? Sorry it's such a long winded question !
If having the top growth makes moving it easier, you could leave it on, dig it up, replant it, and then reduce the top growth to minimise strain on its recovery system.
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However, l now have "Graham Thomas" which needs to be moved about a foot - 18 inches. It doesn't sound a great distance, but unfortunately it needs to be done.
It's been in the ground 5 and a half years and is around 5 and a half feet tall. It's flowering at the moment with some more buds to come. One side of it has black spot, and l picked off some sawfly caterpillars yesterday.
Ideally l would like to move it now, but if absolutely necessary l could wait until the middle of September (so only a couple of weeks).
Would l be better pruning it right down to around a foot to eighteen inches high before starting to dig, or should l only reduce it by the bare minimum to be able to move it fairly easily?
Sorry it's such a long winded question !