How do you care for knockout roses?

Knockout roses are almost a "stand alone rose," meaning they take no special care and can be planted and left. However, some special care can be taken to ensure great looking flowers.

The best way to care for knockout roses is to treat them as regular roses. Knockout roses are considered deadhead roses, which means they take care of cleaning themselves up and pruning the flower heads, so this is not necessary for a gardener to clean up. However, a gardener can certainly still do this to keep the plant looking nice. Following the basic steps for taking care of regular rose bushes is the best way to begin properly caring for knockout roses.

1. Planting and staging

When planting knockout roses, it is suggested to plant them anywhere it will be sunniest. These flowers thrive in sun and heat. Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball, filling it with water and letting it drain, and then place the plant into the hole. Fill with dirt accordingly. Water until entire area is soaked.

2. Feeding and fertilizing

Buying fertilizer made for roses is the best way to feed them, or making fertilizer out of compost. Lay down fertilizer as directed by instructions for rose plants. Putting too much fertilizer on a rose bush can burn it off and kill it with nitrogen.

3. Watering

Making sure the rose bush gets at least 1 to 2 inches of water a week is important, and water runoff is just as important or the bush can get root rot.