Question
Closest largest city...Charlotte, NC

Just moved into home north of Charlotte, NC (December) with loads of knock out roses, some 5 ft. tall.  Two questions......can I heavily prune now and can I transplant any now.

Thanks for advice.

Answer
North Carolina is a good place to grow roses as you don't get really nasty, cold winters. Knock Out roses have been advertised as VERY hardy rose bushes but the reality is that they are no hardier than most shrub roses. So with that in mind I would go ahead and cut them back now if you want to, especially the ones you want to transplant. You can also transplant them but it would be necessary to make a mound of compost, soil, dead leaves, bark mulch, anything to protect them for this winter as they have been settled in for some time. Moving them now, which will disturb the roots, may cause some dieback in the winter. Just have the new holes ready before you dig the roses up, try and get as much of the top roots as you can as the deeper ones are mainly anchors, water well and thy should be okay. However next spring water the transplants well for at least a month. The main problem with transplanting roses is that you can't help but disturb, even kill, the frail little feeder roots. It takes about a month for new ones to start taking up the water and nutrients again. Roses will grow in soil that is 40' so if you are lucky and have a warmer winter, then the feeder roots will be ready in the spring. If you don't want your Knock Outs to grow very tall, all you do is prune them back 18 inches below the height you want. Then they will grow to abut 18 inches or more in the summer. If they grow too tall again, simply cut the tall canes back in the summer. Watch the nitrogen in these roses as high nitrogen in fertilizers means TALL bushes.