On Feb 21, 10:18*am, rhodesian wrote:
On Feb 20, 1:36*pm, WesD wrote:



On Jan 27, 4:22*pm, mj wrote:

I need some opinions if anyone has time.
I spent over $200 at Witherspoons 4 years ago. They did well for the
first year, ok for the second year and I pretty much replaced them the
third year. I replaced them *with knock off roses from Walmart and
Lowes. ( I live where there are *no other stores down east of
Raleigh). *Also to be fair the third year I developed quite the deer
problem that I got a handle on the end of last season with "deer away"
stuff. What I have now are some pretty scragaly looking plants. *They
have held on through the cold and windy winter, so far, and I didn't
prune them much in the fall because I was afraid they needed all the
help they could get.
So here are the real questions:
When do I cut them back this spring and try to bring them back to life
and
What does everything think of knock offs? Is that my root (no pun
intended) problem or just the last few years of circumstances?

Hang in there folks, Spring IS coming
Thanks in advance,
MJ

I think they are Knock Out not knockoff. *They look pretty good have
talked about some with my wife, but I have a black thumb with roses.
Only success has been with lady banks and a running white rose. *I
don't know if they hold up longer or not.

I have several types of roses in my garden and find that the knockout
roses are extremely low maintenance. The others need regular doses of
systemic fertilizer/black spot treatment. A friend who owns a lawncare
business said to cut back knockout roses every year on Valentine's Day
(easy to remember!). He said you can cut them way back and they'll
grow in a little fuller and less lanky. I also do a lot of deadheading
on the knockouts and it seems to produce better blooms and makes the
plants look cleaner and more healthy. My other traditional roses also
need staking, and the knockouts support themselves. Overall, the
knockouts are sturdy bed fillers, and the traditional roses are higher
maintenance, but produce more unique colors and fragrant blooms. Hope
that helps!

I cut them today but mostly just the dead stuff. Should I have cut
them back a lot more? They seem to have a pretty good amount of new
growth starting already. I gave them a dose of Miracle Grow but it was
too windy for the rust / black spot / stuff spray. I guess I will just
wait and see. I Do wish they didn't all seem to be the same color.
They weren't supposed to be.