Question
I live in Lexington, KY. I had plumbing issues and yesterday my 2 year old knockouts that were BEAUTIFUL were stripped from their happy home and put on the lawn during pipe repair under their homes.  Put them back in after repair work was finished, but they do not look good at all....droopy heads and just sad looking.  We watered them very well but since we have so much clay in our ground I was worried about drowning them.  What to do to help them?  If they don't make it.....is it better to replace them now before frost time or wait until Spring?  Thanks!

Answer
If the roots were just left with no covering when the plumbing was being done, then the roots will have dried out and that kills the tiny feeder roots. What this does is put the rose bush into shock. The best way to save them is to cut them right down to 12 inches. This way the damaged roots won't have a lot of plant to keep alive. If you leave them the size they were, now the roots aren't as big or as vigorous and so it will be a strain for them to keep the plant growing. Careful on the watering, just make sure the soil is constantly damp but not soaking wet. Don't give them any fertilizer as the roots are damaged and can't take it up to the different areas. Just keep the area moist and because you have made the bush smaller, you will see in a couple of weeks, new growth coming from your Knock Outs. This year the roses would benefit from being protected for this coming winter to make sure the roots don't suffer anymore set backs. Rose roots continue to grow when the soil temperature is down to 40' so just make an 8 inch mound of soil all around the base, compost or any type of mulch, and that will make sure they survive the winter.