The Planting & Care of Knockout Roses
Knockout roses are specifically bred for high resistance to disease and pests. This is a shrub-type rose that is low-maintenance and will give you months of color in the garden. The flowers are large, reaching up to 3 1/2 inches across, and bloom in shades of pink, red or yellow. The pink and red varieties are available in single and double blooms. The Knockout rose is winter hardy to United States Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 5. Knockout roses typically grow between 3 to 5 feet tall and wide and are as easy to plant and grow as they are beautiful. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Select a location in your garden that receives at least six to eight hours of sun every day. If you live in a warm climate, make sure your Knockout rose has shelter from the intense late afternoon heat. Insufficient light will lead to a scraggly rose with few blooms and leaves. Roses are a long-lived plant and choosing a good site for them is the best way to assure they will thrive.
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Loosen the soil with a shovel to a depth of 18 inches. Spread 2 to 3 inches of compost over the soil and mix well. The compost will add nutrients in the soil as well as improve drainage
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Dig a hole with a shovel twice as deep and wide as the container in which your rose is growing. Gently remove your rose from its container. If the Knockout rose's roots look root bound, or are tightly wound, gently break them up.
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Fill the hole with your amended soil so that when you place the rose in the hole, it will be buried at the same depth it was growing in its previous container. The bud union, or the knob at the base of the rose’s central stem, should be just above the surface of the soil. Continue to fill in the hole with the amended soil and pat down.
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Water well, making sure the earth is wet but not soggy. This will bring moisture to the rose’s roots as well as collapse any air pockets. Water your Knockout rose when the first 2 to 3 inches of soil is dry.
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Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around your new Knockout rose to help the soil retain moisture and prevent the growth of weeds.
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Prune your Knockout rose in the early spring after the last hard frost, or periodically throughout the year to control the size of your rosebush. Knockout roses don’t require regular pruning like other varieties of roses. Simply trim the rose back to about one-half its size. This will assure a season full of roses.
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Feed your Knockout rose with a fertilizer designed for rose plants in the early spring. They may not need to be fertilized again until the following year. Knockout roses do not require deadheading, or removal of the old flowers.
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References
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- Photo Credit Rose 3 image by Acesse from Fotolia.com
