Going back to the poorly rose - took a dead branch off last night - snapped off in my hand - and the whole plant feels very light/loose in the ground. There is a tiny number of new shoots right at the base, is there any point in taking it right the way back and just leave those buds to see what happens? Be a shame to lose it completely, but I have a dozen others and I can’t see it getting back to its best.
Replant with some added fertiliser, tamp down very firmly and prune down to 5mm above the buds you mention. It's actually quite difficult to kill a rose by pruning too hard, they can be pruned with a chainsaw!
Going back to the poorly rose - took a dead branch off last night - snapped off in my hand - and the whole plant feels very light/loose in the ground. There is a tiny number of new shoots right at the base, is there any point in taking it right the way back and just leave those buds to see what happens? Be a shame to lose it completely, but I have a dozen others and I can’t see it getting back to its best.