Need some help in maintaining the Knock out Roses.
1 When do you prune?
2 How low to the ground can you prune?
3 Can you maintain the Rose at a level 2 to 3 ft.
Thank you for your help.
E. T. Inderwish
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Hello Edward,
Knockout roses can be pruned in fall or early spring before they begin leafing out. Generally, pruning is done to remove broken, dead, touching or crossing branches and for shape.
I wouldn’t prune it past the point of where the branching begins. It shouldn’t be a difficult feat to keep them in the 3 foot height range. Once they have been pruned, they can be shaped by removing some of last season’s growth.
I also clip (shear) my knockout roses in mid summer (around late July) to remove most of the spent blooms. They put on a new flush of growth with lots and lots of new blooms. It isn’t necessary to shear them to deadhead them, but I like the look of them when they put out that new growth.
Thank you for your inquiry.
Cheryl Jones
