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Perhaps due to disagreement among rose experts
regarding how and when to prune roses, the task is intimidating to many gardeners.
While it may take a little time and practice to
become an accomplished rose pruner, you are
not likely to kill a Knock Out with bad
pruning. |
Reasons for pruning
- Encourage new growth and
bloom,
- Remove dead wood,
- Improve air circulation
and
- Shape the plant.
Season for pruning
- At the first signs of
spring.
|
Basic Rose
Pruning
- Use clean, sharp
tools.
- Look at the overall plant, but begin pruning from
the base of the plant.
- Prune to open the center of the plant to light and
air circulation.
- Make your cuts at a 45-degree angle, about 1/4 inch
above a bud that is facing toward the outside of the plant.
- Make sure it is a clean cut (not ragged).
- Remove all broken, dead, dying or diseased wood
(Any branches that look dry, shriveled or black.
Cut until the inside of the cane is white).
- Remove any weak or twiggy branches thinner than a
pencil.
- If cane borers are a problem in your area, seal the
cut with a white glue, such as Elmers.
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Except for removing dead
wood and shaping the plant, we generally
recommend leaving Knock Outs unpruned for the first 2 years and
then use the "one-third" method. Each year remove one-third of the oldest
canes (in addition to any dead, diseased or dying canes).
Florida
and Southern California roses may not need pruning, though heavy spring thinning
isrecommended. Northern zone roses should not be pruned until
April, after the Forsythia starts to bloom.
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Fertilize at spring pruning time - we prefer slow
release fertilizers (or water soluble fertilizers later in the
season), but any all purpose rose food or all purpose fertilizer
will generally provide the necessities.
Once rose bushes are established, try gently
scratching the following mixture around the bush:
- 1 Cup Cottonseed Meal
- 1 Cup Bone Meal or Superphosphate
- 1/2 Cup Blood Meal
- 1/4 Cup Epsom Salts
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While deadheading Knock Out blooms will increase the bloom
cycles, since petals fall cleanly, removing old blooms
is not required.
|
Recommended fall rose care to help prevent plants
from breaking dormancy during winter warm spells:
- Stop deadheading in early or mid-autumn. Pull the
petals off remaining flowers and let hips develop. This signals the plant
to start reserving its energy for winter.
- Quit pruning, except for dead canes, until the
first signs of spring.
In northern zones:
- When leaves begin to change color, wind the rose
canes together with twine. This will keep them from breaking under winter
wind and snow. Use an 8-foot-long strand, start at the bottom of the plant
and wind upward.
- When the ground is too cold and hard to make a
footprint, and more cold weather is forecasted, pile soil around the plant
base. After the mounded ground freezes, pile salt marsh hay on top of the layer of
soil. This locks sunlight from thawing the soil and making the plant break
dormancy too early. This layer is crucial in winters without snow. Wait
until the last possible day to cover the plants with soil
(and later with
hay). In the fall, mice, voles
and moles are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. If you cover
your rose bushes too soon, they will burrow in and chew the canes all
winter. Waiting until the ground starts to freeze and forces varmints to
find other winter
quarters. |
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