When to Move Knock Out Roses

Features

• Knock Out roses were bred by a man who hated fussing over roses. The results of Radler’s efforts produced a plant that required little pruning and grew into a shrub 3 to 4 feet tall with a similar spread. Knock Out roses bloom in red, pink and yellow. All colors come in single form, and red and pink come in fully double forms. Plants grown in full sun repeat bloom from spring until late summer. As with other roses, plants are deciduous, entering dormancy as the ground freezes in late fall and beginning growth again in early spring. Dormancy provides a natural break, minimizing transplant shock.

Planting

• Plants demand well-drained, slightly acidic soil with a pH near 6.5. Planting instructions for Knock Outs recommend digging a hole twice as deep and wide as the root ball and adding amendments such as compost, limestone, sulfur or superphosphate to dirt dug out of the planting hole to balance soil pH and fertility. This procedure, along with watering the plant deeply until it becomes established, should be followed for moving plants as well as new plants.

Considerations

• Knock Outs enter dormancy during early winter as temperatures drop and begin leaf bud as soon as the sun rises high enough to moderate winter’s chill in spring. As winter wanes, Conard-Pyle, marketer of Knock Out roses, suggests cutting canes back to 12 to 18 inches tall to keep plants compact and neat. Plants have the best chance of surviving the move before they break dormancy in spring, just after they are cut back and as soon as the soil can be worked. You can dig up young plants with little damage to roots, while older plant roots may need trimming. Plants over three years old may not transplant successfully, reports the website Times-Georgian.

Variations by Zone

• Gardeners in warmer climates such as USDA Plant Hardiness zones 8 to 10 can move plants in early December, providing the plants are completely dormant. Late winter moves take place in January or February. In zones from 6 north, however, cold and snow often set in before plants become completely dormant in early winter. So pruning is best completed from early March through early April before stems turn bright green and buds begin to form. Whenever plants move, they need deep watering to provide moisture for roots, which begin growing before top growth begins. Add 2 inches of straw mulch to conserve moisture. Keep mulch away from the rose stem to protect against soil-borne pathogens.