I think many people have Knockout Rose "issues".
The thread "I Hate Knock Out Roses" in
Roses forum
I just want the blooms to look more like fussier roses' blooms, and maybe last longer after being cut. Now I cut them as unopened or barley opening buds, and they do last longer indoors.
I need to move a really huge KO rose this fall or winter, and it just put on a surge of new groiwth (after a mild pruning), and produced yet another flush of buds.
I assume that I have to wait until it's dormant before I dig it up, and that I should prune it very heavily before moving it to its new, poorer-soil, site. So I'm planning to let it get colder, then prune very heavily, then move it. And maybe split it into two smaller plants at that time.
However, then I would be violating this principle:
>> Knockout roses--and roses in general-- should be pruned in spring.
I think that moving the huge bush is impossible (it won't fit in the van), and also I won't get enough roots to support that much foliage in poorer soil. I am guessing that "pruning in late fall" won't be as bad for it as letting the foliage get totally out of balance with the roots.
Any advice?
