Over pruned knock out roses

11 years ago

So my dear husband went crazy and pruned several of my 1 year old (almost) knockout roses to about 6 inches from the ground. No rhyme or reason . Any advise would be greatly appreciated...leave them alone? Help!

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Comments (9)

collinw
11 years ago
KO's are fairly tough roses. I bet they bounce back just fine.
User
11 years ago
Advice? Instruct your husband how (and how NOT) to correctly prune these types of shrubs, so this time next year he does it right!
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A grouping does look good. I'd plant them into the garden now so the roots can get established. Even the hardiest roses can die the first winter if the roots have not had an opportunity to grow into the surrounding soil. August is a really hot dry time to transplant a potted rose. Unless you water regularly and deep you could lose them especially if the soil falls from the roots when you transplant. Nature size and planting distance is determined by your growing zone. Pruning can be easy. After each flush of bloom, allow the flowers to fade some. Use a pair of hedge clippers and remove the dead blooms along with a inch or so of cane to shape the bush. In a few weeks new buds will form along with new growth. You'll have more flowers within a month. Yearly pruning should be done in spring. Remove winter killed canes and dieback along with any damaged ones. Cut back as far as you want to shape the bush and keep it in bounds. As much as many rosarians complain about Knock Out being the only roses available in many garden centers, their ease of growing and hardiness encourages many to grow roses again. The desire to grow roses soon entices them to try other varieties.
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Comments (8)
You probably didn't kill them, but you didn't do them any favors,either. Somehow, some folks in Tennessee have decided that roses are the same plants as other shrubs. This leads to some who severe prune as early as late September and again in November. This sort of thing takes strength away from the plants. Roses don't want to go dormant here. If you cut them in fall, they'll put out new growth in two to four weeks, even though it's not yet winter. That growth will probably be killed in late December, and that earlier cutting will have taken away the stored 'strength' that would go to regrow the plant in spring. I've watched some Knockout that have been pruned three times this fall. I don't know what the heck the grounds crew thinks they are doing, much less why. What you should have done (in my opinion) was go through and snip off broken canes. Then in late December go in and prune back for height, depending on how high you want them to be next year. The winter killed new growth that you are going to get, you'll see it contorted and blackened, you can snip it off in winter as well.
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Comments (4)
Chris, follow the great advice on here. I too transplanted a knockout a couple of years ago and it has never really recovered to what it was before. I think it preferred the sunnier spot where I had it before it was moved. Even then, it would pretty much lose all of its leaves in the summer when it just was too hot outside. I think you will be able to save it. Just shade it a bit and give it some water. It should recover.
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Comments (5)
For Winter protection, I mound compost over the bud union when I put the rose to bed for the Winter. I remove it in Mid-March providing the weather is warming up. Just scratch it into the soil. I feed monthly from Mid-May through Mid-September. I am in Zone 6 on Cape Cod. The ocean temperature delays Spring and lengthens the Summer.
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roseseek
11 years ago
Keep them appropriately fed and watered and leave them alone. They should bounce back just fine as long as there aren't other issues to damage them further. Kim
seil zone 6b MI
11 years ago
They'll be fine. I've seen many a city or business planting of KOs pruned in the same manner and by mid-season you'd never know it. They're very vigorous and pretty much fool proof. Keep them watered and fed and watch them grow!
kittymoonbeam
11 years ago
Around spring flush time when your bush is still just leaves, ask for some florist roses
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
11 years ago
They will probably be just fine...
You can feed them when it starts getting leaves, ect.
or just let them alone.
Keep well watered...
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
11 years ago
ha ha, that's a good one kittymoonbeam!
gigim
Original Author
11 years ago
It is a month later and they look fabulous! Still short to the ground but flush with leaves and new buds. Perhaps this was not such a bad idea after all! Have started my first ever batch of alfalfa tea and will feed them that this weekend. Thanks to those of you who gave advice (as opposed to making snarky comments about my husband) ;-)
seil zone 6b MI
11 years ago
Congratulations! I'm glad they came back well for you. Roses are very forgiving and quite the survivors!

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Over pruned knock out roses

Comments (9)

collinw

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roseseek

seil zone 6b MI

kittymoonbeam

jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6

hoovb zone 9 sunset 23

gigim
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seil zone 6b MI

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Over pruned knock out roses

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