I am pretty awful at growing roses, but I've joined a few groups and forums and put my learning cap on. However I only have Knock Out roses at this time. Mine are three years old and I've never pruned them - which means they are a huge, heavy, mess and are so big they tend to lay on the ground around the edges. Think of a huge mushroom cap sitting on the ground! I'd like to prune them to open up the interior and remove crossing stems, but also to remove a lot of the growth in the lower 1/3 of the plants, creating a mini tree effect. When is the proper time to prune Knock Outs? I live in z6 of the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Thanks!

I'm in zone 6 Central Pa and the best time here to prune roses is early April...
Some people wait until the Forsythias bushes bloom in there area then they start pruning roses...

Thank you, I was going to prune them this week, so you probably saved me from botching them up!

Light pruning in the fall is ok but major pruning is done in spring.