Can i prune azaleas in the fall

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Dull tools make pruning more difficult and will crush and tear stems. How to Prune Azaleas In most landscapes, azaleas look best when minimally pruned, allowing them to retain their naturally graceful form.

Remove long stray shoots by reaching down into the plant and making cuts next to larger woody branches. This allows sunlight and air movement in the center of the shrub, which promotes healthy new growth. Major Azalea Pruning When azaleas grow too big for their surroundings, they may need to be pruned drastically. You can cut overgrown plants down to about 1 foot in height.

Then feed them with a slow-release, water-soluble fertilizer Frequently water the plants you cut back to encourage a flush of suckers from the stumps. The following spring, the shrubs should be covered with lots of new growth. You can keep the plants small and cute, or have them as more of a statement shrub. Some skilled gardeners are able to trim these plants into topiaries or even grow them into a tree form by pruning.

Hand Clippers—This small tool is great for controlled cutting. Be sure the blades are sharp, and clean, to prevent foliage disease spread. Be sure to clean your tools in between prunings to prevent the spread of diseases and to remove any sap that is on the blades. We do not recommend using hedge trimmers to shear azaleas into boxes or other shapes.

This will cause the plant to look terrible and prompt the foliage and the flowers to only exist in the outer inch of the bushes. Leggy essentially means that the leaves are only growing on the outer edges of the branches, and the plant does not look full or lush. To help encourage the plant to grow thicker foliage, selective pruning of old wood is the best strategy. Pick out only a few branches per year, and cut those down to a dormant bud or lower sturdy branch.

Do a few branches each year for best results. This is a slow process, but works very effectively. This should be done in the winter when the plant is dormant. We do not recommend ever cutting an azalea shorter than 12 inches tall. If you cut back the plant all the way to the ground, you risk the plant becoming weakened by poor nutrition or disease and die. The plant may also take up to 3 years to bloom again if you cut back the shrub that much. Heavy pruning of azaleas should be done in late winter and early spring see rejuvenation pruning below.

It may also be necessary to control azaleas which are taking up too much space next to a drive or a path. If it is a scraggly azalea or has grown out of control, 'sometimes radical action and heavy pruning is required,' says the experts at Millais Nurseries.

If an azalea is cut back heavily then it will not flower in the following year, but this will be worth it if an old shrub past its best is then transformed back into a young, healthy and well-shaped azalea in future years.

The best way to prune old or overgrown azaleas is to give them a new lease of life with a harsh trim. You can also 'spread the rejuvenation pruning of azaleas out over several seasons,' advise the experts at Wilson Bros Gardens.

Azaleas will grow back if cut down with the method used for rejuvenation pruning, as above. You need to make sure that you do this at the correct time of year, in late winter or early spring, before the growing season, so that the plant will produce new growth. The plant should have grown to a nice shape and produce lots of beautiful blooms within about three years after this manner of extreme pruning.

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