Double Knockout Questions

[meddlingmage]

To start off, I am very new to all of this and have never really gardened before.

I purchased a hybrid double knockout rose tree/plant and it has essentially gone from a beautifully fully bloomed bush to... a pretty sad rose bush covered in deadheads (I think that's what they are called). If I were to "deadhead" my plant... I would essentially be cutting it down to nothing except stems and... I'm kind of lost on what to do really? I was under the impression these bushes needed very little maintenance and you didn't really need to deadhead them but... the whole thing is essentially dead bulbs and it saddens me. Maybe its just the time of year/weather?

 

[NatalieW]

what you have is normal...each bloom only lasts for so long and they die back.. to dead head means to only cut off the dead bloom, not the entire plant. .... take a pair of pruning shear and just cut off the "head" of each stem, in other words, cut off only the dead blooms. This will encourage the bush to grow and start more blooms.

 

[marlingardener]

Knock-outs are tough roses and can continue to bloom without dead-heading. I'd recommend taking the spent blooms off anyway--makes the bush look better and while you are communing with your rose, you may notice something else that needs to be done (killing aphids, removing spindly growth).
Here is a website that explains how and when: http://growexquisiteroses.com/deadheading-knockout-roses/

 

[meddlingmage]

what you have is normal...each bloom only lasts for so long and they die back.. to dead head means to only cut off the dead bloom, not the entire plant. .... take a pair of pruning shear and just cut off the "head" of each stem, in other words, cut off only the dead blooms. This will encourage the bush to grow and start more blooms.

Fantastic thank you, glad to hear its pretty normal. I just feel like if I cut off all of the dead heads... I'll have hardly anything left?! Off topic but I have a aphid problem. Do you have a go to pest/insecticide by chance?

 

[NatalieW]

Fantastic thank you, glad to hear its pretty normal. I just feel like if I cut off all of the dead heads... I'll have hardly anything left?! Off topic but I have a aphid problem. Do you have a go to pest/insecticide by chance?

insecticidal soap works well for aphids

 

[Lynn248]

My double knockout was diseases when I bought it - it bloomed for a while but recently stopped and I see no new buds.
The leaves seems to have black mold on them?? Could this have something to do why it stopped producing buds?

 

[NatalieW]

that is black spot disease, it's caused by fungus .... remove the bad leaves and spray it with fungicide

 

[Lynn248]

Thanks I will do that today