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| When we moved into our home it had FOUR large bushes in the front. The first one has bloomed beautifully--a bright pink azalea. It's the big full round kind, not the more airy spindly kind. Well....my husband has been trimming these faithfully so they'll stay below the windows. But, every year, each of the other three have about 3 little azalea blooms on them. I've just thought it was a wandering branch or something, and haven't taken time to investigate, spending most of my time working in the back yard. This year, though, I decided to check, and now I'm realizing that all four bushes (I think) are azelias. What can be done to have them bloom again? Does trimming them destroy the blooming? When is the OK time to trim them back. And can you just buzz cut, or do you have to prune them? Help, please! I am lamenting the fact that I've been missing those blooms for several years now. Just out of ignorance. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by aftermidnight Z8 V. Island B.C. (My Page) on Tue, May 20, 14 at 15:21
| If you need to shape do so as soon as they have finished blooming other than that just deadhead the spent blooms to ensure you get flowers the following year. |
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| If you are having to prune the azaleas frequently to keep them below your windows, they are probably sited wrong. Azaleas shouldn't require regular pruning other than removing that occasional stem that unbalances the plant, or taking off anything that may have been damaged. They set buds in summer for the flowers you would enjoy the next Spring. |
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| Well, they are gettng very large, and I hate to take them out. I think they were originally planted when the house was built in the 60s, so they are large! They have been trimmed into rounds for many years, so much that I didn't realize they were azelias. Do you think if we stopped trimming them, they would start flowering? Do they maybe need some sort of fertalizer? Thanks! I would LOVE, LOVE it if they flowered. So much so that I might not care if they covered the windows. This time of year it's magical. |
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| Well, they are gettng very large, and I hate to take them out. I think they were originally planted when the house was built in the 60s, so they are large! They have been trimmed into rounds for many years, so much that I didn't realize they were azelias. Do you think if we stopped trimming them, they would start flowering? Do they maybe need some sort of fertalizer? Thanks! I would LOVE, LOVE it if they flowered. So much so that I might not care if they covered the windows. This time of year it's magical. |
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| Pruning, and too much shade, are the two main reasons azaleas don't flower well. If these look healthy otherwise, and your soil is of average fertility, I doubt if its a fertilizer issue. |
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- Posted by shadeyplace 7 (My Page) on Wed, May 21, 14 at 7:30
| You certainly do not want to "shear" an azalea. They are easy to transplant and that is most likely what you should do. if you want to keep them where they are, cut them back right after flowering, give them some holly tone, and let them grow back to being too large for where they are. They are really not the best shrub for the front. Not good looking in winter...pretty much only when they are in bloom.. |
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| Your best bet is to move them. My azaleas out grew the space they were in and trying to remember to prune right after they finished blooming was becoming a pain. In my area, most people have them in their front yards. |
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| These are about 6 feet high (maybe higher) and about as round. You don't really think I could transplant them, do you? There has to be a way I could cut them back and have them bloom. Isn't there? Please... :( |
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| According you have been cutting them. Either stop cutting them so they can bloom. Wait until they stop blooming to cut them or move them. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Sat, May 24, 14 at 14:11
| EVERYTHING is movable./.. its called the nursery business ... BUT!!! ... there are key seasons to do such... and SUMMER IS NOT ONE OF THEM ...especially for a newb .... BTW .. its a shrub.. and there is a shrub forum ... check in there around 9/1 ... if you want to contemplate moving them ... it is done when they are dormant ... not in the heat of the summer ken ps: in the mean time.. think about how hard you want to work for a 20 or 30 dollar plant .. frankly.. i would prefer not to spend 5 hours digging and hauling this thing around the yard.. for 20 freakin dollars... i would cut it flush to the ground.. apply stump killer.. and go buy a new one ... saving a planting mistake.. because its been there since the idiot original owner planted a darn tree in front of a window without the foresight to understand THAT IT WILL GROW OVER THE WINDOW ... is NOT a reason to save it ... get rid of it.. and plant your own mistakes... lol.. it took me 5 years at my first house.. to finally understand this ... dont waste the 5 years i did ... |
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| Rhododendrons and azaleas have shallow roots. Even large ones are possible to move, though I would do it in the early fall and then keep them well-watered until things freeze up for the least stress on the plant. On the rhododendron and azalea forum there have been many threads about moving rhododendrons and/or azaleas; since they are the same genus and grow the same way, they are moved the same way. I did a search for "moving" on that forum and got several threads. Here are two. |
Here is a link that might be useful: moving an azalea
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