Hi Kim,

In my opinion now would be a good time to cut them down! My neighbors needed to move a shrub rose and a climbing rose a few years ago, and when they asked me how they should do it I recommended cutting them down to about a foot high to make it easy to dig and replant them. They did cut them down to a foot or a little less and it worked beautifully for them.

With your situation, depending on the access you need, I'd recommend cutting them down to anywhere between 18" and 8" high, anytime in the next month or so. As long as they're at least "a few" inches high you shouldn't have any problem with them! I don't think this would really make any difference, but, just in case, I recommend planning to do it "a few days" before we're expecting any "extremely" cold weather, like down into the low teens or single digits. That would just give them a few days to "think about their new state in life" and "adjust" to their "diminished size!"

A couple things to keep in mind! It is obviously going to take some time for them to "get back" to however big they are now, and, more importantly, if the roses you have bloom on old wood only, you won't get any flowers next year. Having said that, by the time they bloom in 2021 they should be pretty nice bushes again!

One other thing! When you're cutting them down keep in mind that the "new cane" will grow in the direction of the highest remaining "bud" on the stem--in other words, they'll grow out where the highest leaf was. So you can plan for which direction you'd like the canes to start growing in spring.

Welcome to RMG,

Skybird

Thank you Skybird! I appreciate your advice.