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| This is my third year summer with my pink and red knockouts and last year I liked them to stay as tall as the photo I have included here. The problem was by August they too tall and hate to cut them back as they were in full bloom in August and did not want to cut any flowers off at that point. Should I cut them harder in the spring and how low to the ground so they don't get any higher then the ones in the photo? Does anyone fertalize theirs in the spring as I did not last year and they stopped blooming the month of July then bloomed again all August.. Would feeding them make them bloom all summer not take a break in between?? |
Here is a link that might be useful: Knockouts in early June
Follow-Up Postings:
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| So, you want them to be about 3' tall? I'll tell you that Knock Out grows over 5' tall here, and that is with a hard (down to 18 inches tall) pruning. If you want to keep them at that height, you'll have to cut them down during the growing season. They rebloom quickly, so that shouldn't be a problem. But, they won't stay at 3' tall, no matter how low the initial pruning in the spring. Blushing Knock Out seems to be smaller, around 4' tall. Prune when the forsythia is in bloom. I would say early to mid-April, but really keep an eye on the forsythia. It is a pretty reliable tool in these parts. Many roses stop blooming in July here because of the heat. Some people have started to water more frequently, and they have reported that it helps with mid-summer rebloom. Otherwise, we just wait until the heat lets up. Fertilizing in the spring doesn't matter in this case, it is really related to the summer heat. |
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| Hi Jess - I only prune my Knockouts to clean out dead wood in the spring. I don't cut mine down at all because I want the height and bushiness. As far as fertilizing, roses are heavy feeders, so you should start and maintain a good feeding program. My fertilizer of choice is Rose Tone, which I apply starting when I see new growth in the spring and I apply monthly until about 6 weeks before the first frost. During the extremely hot summer months (July-August), it is normal for roses to take a breather and then start up again when the weather cools, so I don't think your roses are performing any differently than most. |
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| I have to prune my roses back in August so I can see when I back out of my driveway. |
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| First off, what ever you're doing keep doing it because your roses look fabulous! Now, did you dead head them after the first bloom in June? If so don't just take off the spent blooms do a good pruning to reduce their size then. If not then you need to dead head as I suggested after that first flush of blooms are spent. The thing to remember is any time you cut them back you stimulate new growth and therefore new bloom. Roses can take between 4 to 8 weeks to recycle a flush of bloom. I'm not sure how fast Knockout reblooms but pruning them will stimulate them to grow and bloom. As for fertilizer don't stint. They're hungry devils. I use Rose Tone monthly too but I also put a slow release fertilizer down in the spring as well, Miracle Gro, Bayer or whatever I have or is on sale the week I need it. I also use Messanger and Superthrive through out the season. |
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- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Sun, Feb 10, 08 at 21:06
| Jess's photo
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- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Sun, Feb 10, 08 at 21:10
| I prune mine to clear dead wood, then give them a little overall trim with a pair of hedge trimmers. I fertilize in spring and mine bloom all summer without a break. I do deadhead though, using the hedge trimmers. Too many blooms to do it with pruners. |
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| wow. they are knockouts alright.They are gorgeous.Mine are about 4 yrs old and I have never pruned them,but I intend to do it this year,as I want mine to grow as big as it wants.Mine is in a huge pot and its about 4ft tall and 4 ft wide.I fertilize mine once a month, too. Jean |
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| Wow those are stunning!! What about if you were to give them a second, light pruning when japanese beetle season really kicks in? (Do you get those terrible pests?) Since you would be losing flowers anyway, a light pruning wouldn't matter so much. Here we prune in January, but sometimes give the roses a second light pruning in August to keep them reasonably sized--it doesn't seem to harm them at all. Just a thought. |
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- Posted by jess2132000 PA (My Page) on Mon, Feb 11, 08 at 16:08
| Thank you for the compliments on these roses. It really is exciting to me to wake up and come down to breakfast and look in the back yard at these guys in bloom!! They are really great roses!! I will fertilize this year as I have never but they seem to slow down in July not sure if it is the heat and maybe more water might make them rebloom faster or if it was because I snapped most of the flowers off at the same day in June and maybe I should only do a few at a time not all in the same day and they might bloom more in July.. I just love them anyway and can not wait till May here to see them again!!! |
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- Posted by pkapeckopickldpepprz z9 a/b FL (My Page) on Mon, Feb 11, 08 at 18:56
| Wow those are pretty. You definitely have a green thumb as they look wonderful! |
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- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Mon, Feb 11, 08 at 21:18
| Jess, Yes, if you stagger the deadheading you can have blooms most of the time. Intense heat can cause the bloom cycle to lengthen. Making flowers takes a lot out of a rose bush, more so when they are under heat stress. When I visited the rose garden in Tyler, Texas one year in mid July, their roses looked terrible. I was told they don't do anything to them in very hot summer weather. They prune them in August so they have a really nice fall bloom. |
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- Posted by sly 6(sly4301@msn.com) onMon, Feb 18, 08 at 17:47
| how big were they when you planted them? they're the best.. |
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- Posted by jess2132000 PA (My Page) on Mon, Feb 18, 08 at 18:02
| The red one's came from Lowes in one gallon containers. The pink were bought at a local garden center but also in one gallon containers and they grow very quickly by the end of summer they were as tall as these in the picture. These are now 3 years old but get almost as high as the fence if I let them grow that tall.. |
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| thats amazing. i think i'll line my backyard fence the same way. hard to believe they were in one gallon containers. Did you do anything special when you planted them? |
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- Posted by fool4flowers Copperas Cove, Tx 8 (kristyancheta@yahoo.com) on Fri, Feb 22, 08 at 23:32
| What a beautiful display. I think I have talked my husband into helping me plant a bunch along my fence now that I showed him your pictures. They look amazing! |
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- Posted by patricia43 z8 AL (My Page) on Sat, Feb 23, 08 at 18:41
| Don't deadhead mine but do prune them quite a bit, down to about 18 inches twice per year and they are back up to 6 feet in no time. They would take over if we did not prune hard. |
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| Rosenut, your KnowOut Roses are a such a stunning display.......After seeing yours, that's what I would like mine to look like..... Mine were just planted a couple of months ago. The only trimming I have done so far is just cut the spent roses. I'm in the Tennessee, so it's pretty hot here. I think 95 today. So after reading all these remarks, I should not be thinking about trimming...... One question......Does anyone do cuttings of these roses for vases, etc. and if so, does it matter where on the stem they are cut? Any advice on Knockout Roses will be greatly appreciated....... |
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| Jess, your roses are spectacular and this conversation thread very helpful. But when I clicked on the link to your picture and saw "KOCKOUT" in the caption I could not help but think, "look how many people have seen at this caption since the post was made in 2008 and it is still misspelled." :-) Hope you are still enjoying your roses! |
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