Find Your Ask the Expert: Azales
When it the latest to trim Azales. I have 2 hedges and trim them all summer. but don’t know when they start to get ready for the next years blooming. if you trim them too late they won’t bloom in the spring.
Leona
Reply:
The short answer is a little over a month after they finishing blooming.
The long answer is hard or severe pruning should occur in the weeks immediately following the blooming cycle. So if your Azalea blooms in April and is done blooming by June 1st, I would trim it beginning in June and no later than mid July. A severe pruning after this time frmae will inhibit blooming for next year.
However, light pruning to keep the shrub symmetrical can be done any time during the growing season. This type of pruning involves deadheading the spent flowers or removing branches that grow in disproportion to other parts of the plant. This should not inhibit blooming because you are specifically targeting parts of the plant.
Another general rule of thumb for Azlaeas is to Prune and remove damaged or dead growth in mid-spring.
I hope this will help you determine when you need to prune your azaleas. Good Luck and please keep me posted through the comment section.
It is mid-November. Azaleas are all over the place. I trimmed them lightly, bringing everything back in shape. My wife is throwing a fit. Will they bloom in spring?
The blooming will be diminished in the spring. In fact, they may not bloom at all depending on the extent of the trimming.
My Azeleas are blooming now in November, can I still trim them, especially when the flowers die?
Linda, you can definitely trim it if the flowers are dead.
I have what some might call a very silly question. ( However; They are frequently run together in various how-to-articles. ). The question ; ” Is a Rhodedendron a type of Azalea ” ?
Hi Bob!
Good question! Azaleas are in the genus Rhododendron, so all Azaleas are Rhododendrons, but not all Rhododendrons are Azaleas. Hope that helps!