Moving and pruning roses

Hi Jim & Vicki, good to see you thinking of your garden again.. Chris has given you good advice but have you looked at Woos threads in the Rose section a well.. I reckon twixt the two of these members their advice is what you want..
Planting roses... http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/planting-roses-t25093.html

& pruning... http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/pruning-rose-family-reference-sheet-t20298.html

These might help a bit too, I reckon Woo will be in too..

 

Hi Jim &Vicki , I always prune mine before I move them but this is a purely personal choice,If the plant is dormant (and you don’t have to move the soil), grab the base of the plant and lift up while shaking the soil away from the roots.

For big plants, you may find that it is easier to grab a couple of large canes rather than the base. For really big plants, you may want your some help with the lifting and shaking. Roots that were not cut will either break or pull out of the soil. If you have a particularly large root that's too stubborn to break or pull free, get the other person to lift the plant as far as it will go while you work to cut the root with your spade or a pair of Secateurs.

One of the keys to preventing transplant shock is to balance the length of the canes with the length of the roots. Prune the canes so that they are the same length as the roots. It does not matter if your plant is 4’ tall — if you pulled up 12” of roots, then the canes need to be pruned back to 12”. The danger with having canes that are much longer than the roots is that an over-abundance of new leaves will not be fed by newly emerging roots. Cutting the canes back will give the roots a chance to establish themselves before the leaves get really thirst

It's important that the canes not be encouraged to grow before the roots can get re-established. So, pull off all leaves that may be lingering on the canes. This will slow down photosynthesis and help keep valuable moisture in the canes.
I only keep as much soil around the roots when I move a Rose out of its Dormant state ,Hope this is of some help