Question
I live in Wisconsin and spring is here.  I have a knockout rose bush that I planted last June.  I am wondering when I should prune this.  Do I need to prune in the Spring to get it started? Or when is the best time to do this?

Answer
When you prune in the spring, it helps to activate a rose, that is starting to wake up, grow with more vigour. If you prune in the summer then is keeps the rose smaller as it usually doesn't have time to replace what you cut off.  One of the beauties of Knock Out roses, is that there really isn't any need to prune them, except when you want the bush to be smaller and you can do that in the summer. Or you can whack them down hard in the spring. Most gardeners usually just give their shrub roses a tiding up such as cutting back an extra long cane, pruning out dead canes or even diseased ones.