Question
I live in West Island Area of Montreal Canada H9H 3L8.  Last year after frost and just before snowfall I pruned the knockout rose to about 18 inches--I couldn't see stems well as she still had lots of leaves.  This year in the spring 2 main branches were part brown and part green and didn't grow anything on them so I cut them.  I have read nothing about prewinter pruning for our area. For this climate do I wait for the spring or is prewinter pruning OK.  How do I keep it more upright instead of bushy and clean looking--she seems to be going wild now but sparse in the center where I had to cut the 2 main branches.

Thanks, Lisa

Answer
It is really hard to know just how cold a winter in your area is going to be. So because of that it is a wisdom to not prune until the spring. What this does is leaves enough length of the cames to deal with die back. If you cut the canes back in the fall then there is less for the rose to deal with die back. Then when you prune the roses back in the spring you can prune them back past any die back on the canes.