Knockout Roses

August 4, 2018

My Knock out roses that I cut back in February to one foot are now about five foot tall plus are hindering a Street view.  Can I take them down a foot now without damage to them?

By all means make sure you have good visibility to the street.  Many rose growers do a light haircut in late summer to give their roses a break from the heat and then they bounce back with better blooms in the fall. 

March 28, 2018

We moved to this house last July and these knockout roses were in this bed. There are 20 of them and they are so diseased that we are going to take them out and replace them with something else. This bed is in the middle of our circle driveway and gets full sun all day. We are at a loss as to what to plant here. The man we are hiring to take out the roses has suggested replacing them with Encore azaleas but we aren’t sure they could take the full sun. I was thinking maybe a dwarf maiden grass but not sure about that either. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We live in Batesville, Ar.

I would not plant Encore azaleas in full sun in Batesville, Arkansas.  In more southern climates without cold winters they can take full sun, but not where you are.  An ornamental grass of any kind would take the conditions well, but it might be better to plant something evergreen along with it.  Maybe  a taller evergreen shrub in the center like a Little Gem magnolia or even a deciduous tulip magnolia for spring color, then the dwarf maiden grass around it with some daylilies or seasonal color around the edge. This will be the first bed people see when driving up, so adding color in various seasons would be nice.

August 5, 2017

I finally dug up the root of a knockout rose which died one stalk at a time in my backyard. The rose bush was in an area with sun about 50% of the day, but near the drip line of a Southern Magnolia tree. If I want to replant the rose near the same location, what measures should I take to avoid losing another rose bush?

Magnolias are large trees with competitive roots.  Did you water the other rose bush?  Rose bushes can be planted near magnolias, and Knock-out roses can bloom in as little as 4 hours of sunlight, but you may need to counteract the competiveness of the roots by watering and fertilizing a little extra. I don’t see any reason why you can’t replant.

February 25, 2017

Is it too early to put 3 in 1 Bayer on my knockout roses?  They have the beginnings of some new growth at this time

 I do not think we should start using pesticides just yet on our roses—the three in one products also contain fertilizer, and we sure don’t need to speed things up.  A lot of folks have been questioning whether or not they should still prune roses this year, since many have started growing. I still recommend pruning all roses with the exception of climbing roses, which should be pruned AFTER the first flowering.  Late season pruning doesn’t hurt the roses, but the later you wait, the later they may start flowering.  If you don’t prune, you won’t have as many flowers and your plants may be huge.  Wait until mid-March to early April before using pesticides on roses.

December 31, 2016

My knockout roses were still blooming when the hard freezes hit a few weeks ago.  The leaves are now burned and brown but still attached to the branches. Should I handpick the leaves off to make them drop?  I know they are supposed to be deciduous but it was so warm so late that they didn't know it was winter until too late.  When should I prune them?

Many roses were still blooming when the arctic weather came in. I would not hand pick the leaves off of the plant. It would be a tedious job and totally unnecessary. They may look a bit ugly with the shriveled brown leaves but in time they should fall off. The remaining old foliage could actually help protect the plant from any winter damage. You will need to prune your Knock-out Roses back to within 18 inches of the ground in late February to early March. That should also remove any remaining foliage, if there is any. 

July / Aug 2016

Many of my roses from Knock-outs to hybrid teas have been diagnosed with rose rosette disease.  I first noticed that some of my roses in the front yard looked kind of odd--there were strange branches shooting out which had a very pink stem with a lot of thorns.  The cluster of roses formed in a tight ball at the top. I thought that the Knock-outs were resistant to all diseases.  What should I do now, remove all my roses?

To my knowledge, no roses are totally resistant to rose rosette.  Some are more susceptible than others, but they can all get it.  The disease is a virus, and there are no sprays or cures for viruses.  It is usually spread from insect feeding, particularly a mite. We have been seeing more cases of rose rosette in recent years, but that could be attributed to the fact that because of the carefree roses like Knockouts and Drift roses, more roses are planted in our landscapes.  It could be a combination of things.   Drier years tend to give us a larger mite population and we had an extremely mild winter. Secondly, there are a lot of roses in our landscapes.  The success of the Knock-outs as long season, almost bullet-proof plants, has led to a lot of these planted in our landscapes.  As with any disease, you have to have a susceptible host, the right environment and the introduction of a pathogen.  If you have a lot of host plants, when a disease hits, it can multiply.  You are correct in that there is no cure.  I am not sure you need to remove all roses from your landscape, just those affected.  Proper pruning of roses in late February and spraying to control mites can also help. 

June 11, 2016

My aunts knockout roses have diseased looking leaves, can't find specific online match. Can I send you photos for a diagnosis?

If you have plants which seem to be diseased, take a sample in to your local county extension office.  The best days of the week to take in samples are Monday and Tuesday so that the samples can get to the lab quickly without lingering in the mail over a hot weekend.  If the local agent can’t identify the problem, they will send it to our disease diagnostic lab in Fayetteville.  Once the plant pathologist has determined the problem, you will get an email with a diagnosis and control method.  This is currently a free service. 

(November 2012)

I rooted a cutting from a knockout rose this year and planted it in a pot on my patio. It has bloomed all summer, can I safely move it now to a flower bed on the west side of my house, and expect it to live through the winter. I live in Little Rock.

Yes, plant it in the ground, mulch it and water if dry and it should do well. Wait to prune it back in late February. Even though we don’t prune Knock out roses as severely as hybrid tea roses, they do need to be pruned by at least 1/3 – ½ every year before growth kicks back in.

(September 2012)

My Knock out rose bushes have only bloomed once so far this season. Can you please advise me what the problem is?

The intense summer we had has impacted many flowering plants. Whether it is roses, crape myrtles and even some annuals, they slowed down or stopped blooming just to stay alive. Now that we have gotten some rain, the temperatures are cooling off, hopefully they will rebound and bloom through fall.

(August 2012)

Our knock-out roses have had the wind knocked out of their beauty by this year's drought. We have a dozen plants along the fence line that receive full sun from 8am to 6:00pm! They were planted May, 2011 and we babied them through the hot summer last year and won that war. We use a soaker hose rather than above ground watering. Where do I go from here to try and save them from further drought damage? You can see the yellowed/scorched leaves, the bare canes!! Can they be pruned now? Can they be revived at all?

This question and answer are similar to the butterfly question above. Knock out roses should be pruned by at least 1/3 every year in late February. Right now, a light corrective pruning can give them the chance to produce foliage instead of flowers and get a bit more attractive. Once the cooler weather kicks in with some rain, they should begin to bloom again. For now it is a temporary fix, but by next Feb, you can do more severe pruning. Fertilize them lightly now as well and they should begin to bounce back. All the watering we have done this season has also leached out the nutrition of our soil and roses can take one last application of fertilizer now.

(Aug. 2012)

My knockout roses are staying alive, with a little watering, despite the punishing summer. They would probably look better if I deadheaded them aggressively, as well as maybe blooming more later. Or should I leave them in place to produce hips for wild animal/bird food. Should I deadhead my other roses, the climbers and the shrubs and teas? I usually leave them pretty much alone, but they are pretty neglected concerning feeding and pruning.

Many rosarians do a little corrective pruning, both deadheading and thinning a bit of the rose plants in the heat of summer. This lets the plant conserve some of its resources, gives it a fuller foliaged plant and allows for better blooming when the temperature eventually breaks in the fall. Keep in mind that when a plant is blooming, its main resources go to the flowers. Some of our roses can get a little leggy by late summer, and could use a little more fullness of foliage. Don’t get carried away and do extensive pruning, but a little corrective pruning may be just what the doctor ordered. Continue to water and if it isn’t too awfully hot, give them a light dose of fertilizer as well. Knockout roses usually don’t form rose hips, since they are “self-cleaning” which means they don’t set seeds, but try to continually bloom. The only roses I would not prune are the climbers, especially those that only bloom in the spring, as you could interfere with flower set.

All links to external sites open in a new window. You may return to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture web site by closing this window when you are finished. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information, or the accessibility for people with disabilities listed at any external site.

Links to commercial sites are provided for information and convenience only. Inclusion of sites does not imply University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's approval of their product or service to the exclusion of others that may be similar, nor does it guarantee or warrant the standard of the products or service offered.

The mention of any commercial product in this web site does not imply its endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture over other products not named, nor does the omission imply that they are not satisfactory.