One of the best things about knockout roses is how easy they are to care for and pruning Knock Out roses is no exception. Still, if you want to keep your Knock Outs in optimum health, there are a few things you’ll need to know about pruning them.
When to prune
If what you want to prune is simply dead or damaged stems, you can do that any time of year. In fact, you should trim away deadwood as soon as you find it. If you’re used to high maintenance roses, you might be tempted to deadhead your Knock Outs after the first round of blooms, but with this easy-care rose you don’t really need to. .
When it comes to more serious pruning for shape, though, there are a few things to consider. First of all, in the first year after planting, you won’t need to prune the rose at all. Let it grow into shape for one season and prune it the next year. After that, you’ll only need to prune when you want to shape the rose. This may be as little as every three years.
When you’re ready to give your rose a thorough pruning, though, the best time to do so is late winter or early spring. The exact time will depend on your climate. In most climates, the best time is early spring just after the snow melt, when the buds have swelled but no new growth has appeared. The important thing is to make sure the roses are dormant when you prune them. Pruning Knock Out roses in the summer is also possible, but it will slow their growth.
How to prune knockout roses
Use sharp bypass (scissor-like) hand-held pruning shears. Start by cutting off any deadwood. Next, cut away those spindly canes growing from the base of the rose. When you shard to shape the rose, remember that Knock Outs grow vigorously, so trim them down two feet below the height you want them to reach during the growing season. To make your cut, look for an outward facing bud and cut just above the bud at a 45-degree angle sloping towards the bush. Doing this will encourage growth so you don’t end up with dead stumps.
Pruning Knock Out roses isn’t particularly tricky, but it’s still important to prune them correctly for the best results. When you know when and how to prune Knock Out roses, you’ll have vigorous growth and blooms all season long.
If you are shopping for Knock Out roses, you might want to take a look at another blog post: A Few Beautiful and Hardy Roses For Your Garden.
