Azalea question

[carolyn agosta]

My azaleas have gotten very leggy over the summer. Would it be disastrous to trim them now?

[liberty]

I don't think it'd be a disaster! You just won't have any blooms on the branches you trim now. You wouldn't kill the plant or anything. Remember to trim or cut back your azalea right after it blooms in the spring.

[Capucine]

Like Liberty said, it won't kill the plant. But you won't have any blooms next year. Or, not very many anyway. The best time to trim an azalea is immediately after they bloom.

[carolyn agosta]

Rats. I trimmed it right after it bloomed, but it has still grown like crazy and looks really raggedy. But I don't want to lose my flowers, so I guess I'll have to live with it.

Bummer.

[sscg]

carolyn,

next spring, after bloom, the way to reduce a shrub without damaging it (tho' azaleas can take an awful lot of abuse!) is to cut it back by thirds. Next year, cut back by 1/3, the following year 1/3 and so on onto you have a size that you like :) .

I should add that the city's maintenance crews regularly butcher our azaleas and they soldier on!

[sscg]

carolyn,



I should add that the city's maintenance crews regularly butcher our azaleas and they soldier on!

um, the azaleas, not the city's maintenance crews...

[carolyn agosta]

Ha! That's good to know because I came home from work yesterday and the guy who mows our lawn had buzz-sawed the azaleas into tuffets. GACK! They look horrible. Now I wonder if there's any way to re-naturalize their shape.

[Capucine]

Ha! That's good to know because I came home from work yesterday and the guy who mows our lawn had buzz-sawed the azaleas into tuffets. GACK! They look horrible. Now I wonder if there's any way to re-naturalize their shape.

They will, but it will take a couple of years.

[sscg]

To get a more natural shape for your azaleas, just use hand clippers instead of an electric pruner or loppers (shears), varying the height of your cuts~:)

[Sophie]

Carolyn, I hope you don't mind if I jump in on your thread to ask another question about azaleas...

Can azaleas put planted in the fall? We're having our backyard fenced in next week and I want to plant in front of the section of fence that will be seen from the side and front yard. Its a perfect place for azaleas as it is very wooded, shady, and damp most of the time. Or should I just wait until spring. I also want to set out some climbing vine, like the pink honeysuckle.

[sscg]

fall is a great time to plant azaleas or any other shrub I know about (speaking for the South only~I have no idea about up North) :) and perennials, too.

The only downside to planting azaleas in the fall is since they are not blooming, if color matters, you may get plants that are mislabeled and you won't know until they bloom out next spring.

[Capucine]

Everything I read says fall is the best time to plant just about anything. The roots still grow even though the plant is dormant. So all the energy goes into root development over the winter and it's all ready for spring and summer the next year. ;)

Most of us (definately me) do more planting in the spring because we like instant gratification. :o

[andersc]

sorry if I'm jumping in here...
I think the standard advice is to plant any shrub, tree, etc. you can in the fall (so their root system can get established, etc). But the thing about azaleas is that unless you're buying a named selection that you're pretty darn sure about the color of, you might want to buy them in bloom. The SL garden book has a big section on azaleas if I remember correctly, so you might can check there too.

[Capucine]

OHHHH!!!! Lynn!!! I know I'd have to say something about that!!!

[Capucine]

I'm sorry Lynn. :(

[sscg]

You should see what he does to their crape myrtles. :o

Oh, not the dreaded Flat-Topped Crape Myrtles!!! :)

[100% southern]

but otherwise, how great to still have daddy around - someday, you'll miss these things that annoy you now.

[carolina99]

We've spent the last two afternoons dragging hugh azaleas from the foundation area of the house and planting them on the property line in front of lattice fencing. We tied a rope around the shrub and DH put the rope on the truck hitch and out they came. They are too big to be in that area, and I'm so pleased with where they are. Now, I am on a hunt to find some pretty small shrubs to replace them around the house. Fall is a great time to do this and I'm in the mood to work.

[NanaPam]

The only time I don't plant azaleas is in the middle of the summer. That is unless, they are well mulched and can be watered. I prefer fall but spring is hard to beat with all the colour. We are in drought and it is all I can do to keep them alive. Pray that rain will soon be here. Remember, don't bury them too deep.

[Capucine]

I moved some large azaleas from the front of my house a few years ago. OMG!!! What a job. Some of them weren't hard to dig up but one was particularly difficult. They did great in their new location from day one though.