Now is a fine time, in my experience. I hope everyone agrees.

And Knockouts are so sturdy and forgiving -- I've even cut them back by half midseason, when they were getting a little too crazy -- they were fine.

Here's a recommended pruning regimen for KO roses and the one I'm using:

--Prune in late winter or early spring, while the plant is still dormant. Remove any dead or damaged wood, do a little shaping if necessary, and take out some of the interior stems to improve air circulation. Every 2 or 3 years remove about one-third of the old branches to stimulate new, fresh growth. If you are trying to keep the roses at a certain height, you can cut them back hard with hedge shears. No need to worry about usual rose pruning rule of cutting back to an outward facing leaf bud  just lop them down to the desired size--

They can become quite tall, if you fertilize after each bloom cycle, as recommended, so I am snipping off all of the tall, upward facing stems and shaping them into a low 2 ft. high mound.

I started last weekend, when we had a couple of nice, warm days, but only finished about half of them, before being hijacked for another chore! Will finish them this weekend, after the snow melts! :

Now should be fine, especially for knockouts. I have a lot of roses and have pruned a few and will probably do most of them in the next two weeks.

That's one of the things I love about Knockouts, they don't seem to mind if you're a little early or a little late.

Bagsmom, you are so right, thank goodness. Knockouts are sturdy and very forgiving. Somebody around here (won't mention any names), cut our 3-years old KO's down to about 12 inches. I want them to become shrubs like my sister's roses. Oh well, what's done is done. They're putting out new growth so I guess they're fine.

Go for it, Ashli.

love savannah -- I am sure they will still become shrubs! They are just crazy. If anything, they will probably be fuller and more beautiful from the hard pruning! :)

Bagsmom, I hope you're right. The stock market must have went way down the day he decided to do some pruning. I'm still finding things that were pruned a little too hard for my liking. LOL

If I may borrow Ashli's description, a few of ours were, "looking too tall and "scraggly" as well. Perhaps the hard pruning will make them fuller.

Thanks Everyone...it was a sunny day here and I've now got ALMOST all the Knockouts pruned to a reasonable height...Aside from a few climbers, It's the only Rose that will tolerate our rocky soil...So, even with their vicious thorns...gotta love them!