question is how far down can I prune these bushes. They are about 5 years old. They are 4 - 5 foot tall and like I said look AWFUL....I live in SW GA, almost in FL so we will not have hard freezes until MAYBE Jan and my Hybrid Teas bloom all the way to Christmas most years so lots of growing time left....

I should also note that three of the old knockouts have started growing new canes from the bottom. Those plants I took out all the old large, thick canes, some of which are two and three inches thick. Had to use a saw cause a lopper wouldnt do the work..

Any suggestions or advice wo uld be appreciated

The one planting locally that had comparable damage had major RRD problems. Their landscapers cut all the bushes way back late last fall and many died. The ones that didn't die have barely bloomed or grown this year. Other unscalped plantings (also with RRD symptoms throughout the bed) locally (almost identical conditions) had no damage over winter, so I wonder what problem yours had going into winter. Do you recall some bushes having slightly different colored blooms and more reddish colored foliage?

The root systems are freaking amazing. They spread for ten feet or more and are healthy looking (I had to cut some to plant my new bushes). We have no RRD in my area that i am aware of and I saw no signs of anything odd other than the dead leaves.

We had a HUGE amount of rain last year. Enough that my Hybrid teas (in the same yard) defoliated and stayed that way even with spray. We had almost NO sun to speak of.

Winter was VERY cold for us, but this doesnt appear to be winter damage so much as something just causing entire canes to die, then the entire bush.....its something I have never seen before. They are single red knockouts. My double pink is 6 foot tall, 6 feet across. never defoliated. bloomed until Jan....its in the bed next to the hedge....I know I need to prune, and YES should have done it earlier, but I got so busy at work this hedge just got put on the back burner...btw, my Belinda's Dream Hedge is 8 foot tall already in the next bed, literally 4 feet from where the KnockOuts are.

My rosebeds are framing the parking lot of my shop on three sides, then there is a sitting area with a potted rose area on the opposite side of the walkway.

This is my double pink KO

This is the Belindas Dream, last year.

This is my shop parking lot. the top left of the photo you can a bit of the hedge. You can see where right in the middle of it there are new plants. That is where the ones died..if the entire area was in the shot, the lower left would be the Belindas Dream, and the DPKO is in the upper right. I was standing with the potted area to my immediate right,

so everything is in close proximity....the only ones giving me a hard time are the KnockOuts in the hedge.....I am lost.

BUT I will be pruning them back this weekend and hoping that helps. The Belinda's Dream is headed toward getting "chopped" as well. It is own root and putting out lots of new canes from the bottom, so I need to top prune it...sigh....the work is never done! LOL

I hear you about the Dr Huey roots. I had to dig up some dead roses and the roots (which were alive and well) were HUGE. I am sure I didn't get them all and will be fighting off suckers for awhile.