Can I Prune a Knock Out Rose In The Fall?

Yesterday, I stopped by my neighbor’s house. As soon as she saw me she said “I know I’m not supposed to prune this Knock Out Rose in the fall, but it looks so bushy that I just have to neaten it up for the winter”. When I got home, I opened my GardenScribe to see what I had written about pruning. Sure enough, my notes said to prune in late winter or early spring. But admittedly, I also had been thinking about pruning my two Knock Outs so they wouldn’t be damaged by snow during the winter.

I decided to see what the experts have to say about fall pruning, and this is what I found. The vast majority of advice agrees that you should prune your Knock Out in late winter when the plant is still dormant. You can remove dead or diseased branches anytime. Additional pruning in late spring and early summer to encourage blooms is fine too.

But, I still wondered if I would do my Knock Out's harm with a fall pruning.

The answer is that it’s ok to remove tall large canes that may snap during a winter storm. But keep pruning to a minimum since pruned canes may dieback during the winter.