Please excuse the cross posting (this is also in the Genus Rosa forum: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=57025) Not many people have read it there and no-one has made any suggestions. I thought it might get a better response in the Regional forum. In 2001 or 2002, I bought a purple Pavement Rose from Murray Nursery. I was told it had great rose hips and would be 3-4 feet tall. This sounded perfect for my herb garden. They were correct about the hips...they really are good. However this plant is a monster! It is about 6 feet tall and wide, despite being severely pruned every spring. The worst thing are the underground runners, which I have found 10-12 feet away from the bush! The flowers are lovely and the hips are terrific, but the plant is trying to eat my garden!!! Any suggestions (short of ripping it out)? Thanks Cindy
I read that suckers can be dug up in the fall, severed with a sharp spade as close to the mother plant as possible, then left till spring. By that time the sucker will have (hopefully) developed its own root system and can be transplanted. (In someone else's yard, maybe!) Also read that Rosa rugosa is considered invasive in some areas. Only too true, eh?! Maybe your rose is reverting back to one of its genetic parents...the BIG one!