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Overgrown Rhododendrons - how and when to cut back

dan_lauderXPhcnnnIdan_lauderXPhcnnnI Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hello everyone,

Grateful for your thoughts on the issue of some overgrown Rhododendrons. The pictures show the size of the shrubs that I am looking to reduce significantly in order to regain a some space. I know them to be over 30 years old and although they flower well, they haven't really had any attention for a few years.

The question is, when and by how much can I reduce them by?


Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You would normally do them in autumn/winter  when dormant  :)
    You'll lose flowers for a while, but there isn't really a way of doing it without that happening, unless you do the three year method of taking one third of the shrub back hard, and then the other two thirds of it over the next two years, but frankly, I'd do the method of cutting back one stem/branch hard and see if you get some new growth. If so, you can take it all back hard in late winter . Some will recover more quickly than others too, but you can then give the ground a bit of a boost with some fresh compost and a bit of slow release fertiliser, to set them up for the season.
    I inherited one here which I had to hack back a bit every year, as it was blocking light into the front windows. I eventually took it out.  The best time to do a bit of tidying  is straight after flowering, if you want to keep them to a certain size, and you can do that once you have them in order, as it gives them time to get any new growth hardened off before winter. Many function very well as hedging. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    I’d read that it was best to cut back after flowering? We have loads of very big rhododendrons. They do generally respond to being cut right back, but as Fairygirl said, you will lose flowers. Ours got very overgrown after we moved here, and we took the decision to cut them right down to about 3 feet high, expecting to lose some. They all recovered, big as ever, and we have had a terrific display of flowers over the last few years. They will look rather sad for a while though.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I also have a hugely overgrown rhodo (12ft x 12ft) that I need to cut back dramatically to about 6ft x 6ft as it's smothering everything.
    I often do some minor cutting back in summer, but for anything so drastic I'd wait until winter.
    I keep putting it off as I know for a couple of years it's gonna look horrible, but it must be done

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - general tidying and light pruning is done after flowering @Ergates, and the OP can do that once they're at a more manageable size. 
    To be honest, if they were mine, I'd hack them back now  :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    We’ve got too many for light pruning! I’d be tempted to hack them back too. Certainly there seem to be plenty of old dead branches to come off if the OP is worried about doing too much at this time of year.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm afraid I'm quite brutal about pruning something back if it's got too big for it's boots. 
    If anything doesn't survive, I see it as an opportunity rather than a problem  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lena_vs_DeerLena_vs_Deer Posts: 203
    Pruned mine really hard this year finally. Already growing back! So I’d say trim it back now :smiley:

    just make sure you have at least few buds bumps on trunk left . They seem to still make random sprouts otherwise too, but those bumps are the first ones to wake up (just in few weeks)

  • dan_lauderXPhcnnnIdan_lauderXPhcnnnI Posts: 2
    Thanks for the thoughts everyone. As a follow on question, is the conifer hedge, whose light has been blocked by the Rhododendrons, likely to recover? 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    In a word - no. Once there's brown wood showing, they don't normally recover. However, as it's been shaded out rather than being cut back, you may get a few branches sprouting a little, now that light's getting in, so you could  leave them to see if that happens. It's still a possibility.  How good it'll look is another matter though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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