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Dwarf rhododendron

jomcbride1979jomcbride1979 Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Hi I inherited this from my late father who was a keen gardener. Lots of dead wood …when should I cut it back. It flowered amazingly last year but this year the flowers keep falling off etc…

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Flowers failing is usually down to one of two reasons - lack of water in late summer when the buds form, or frost/ice as the buds start to open.
    Has it had the soil refreshed, has it been well watered during dry weather? 
    It's quite large for the size of pot, and as they're shallow rooting, it's better to have a wider container if you have to keep it potted. They're better in the ground - anything potted is harder work to keep right.
    You only need to cut them back if there's a reason for doing so - ie they've got too big, or there's damaged stems/branches.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • jomcbride1979jomcbride1979 Posts: 10
    Thanks. Soil hasn’t been refreshed in 2 years to be honest . I have o have mostly a pot garden as my garden has been covered in rubble and can’t dig down much 😕…maybe I should repot in bigger container with fresh soil…so are the brown bits of wood ok left there? I thought they were dead but there is new greenish bit attached to all the brown ends…sorry I am a garden novice 
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    The plant itself looks fairly healthy to be honest. Leaves are glossy. If you can repot in Ericaceous compost, you need one with John innes no 3 ideally. Biggest pot you can afford. Water it well and see how it goes they are pretty tough in my limited experience. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - a bigger pot, wider anyway, will help, a soil based compost and yes- you can trim off anything obviously dead. You can also use a slow release food suited to rhodos, or just give it an occasional liquid feed - they're readily available. Just make sure to follow instructions. That also helps when it's in a pot. A mulch of bark when it's nice and damp will also benefit it, as well as keeping it aesthetically pleasing. That will gradually break down and help the growing medium too. 
    It's quite common for shrubs of all types to have some little dead bits, due to weather etc. The habit is to have new growth at the ends though, which is probably what you're describing. The stems start off green, and quite flexible, and become woody as they mature. All that brighter green foliage is just the new growth, which will darken as it gets older. Make sure it doesn't get totally dried out through the next few months [which happens easily with potted shrubs, especially evergreens ] and particularly at the end of summer going into autumn   :)
    If you want to reshape it, you can also do that, but you may not feel confident about that if you're not experienced. They can take quite severe pruning, which makes it easier if you have to keep them potted.  It may want to get rather large, as many of them can be, so you may have to do that if you can't get it in the ground. If you knew the variety that would help, but just keep an eye on it ,and see how much it grows this year.
    You might have to rethink how you grow it though. The other option to a larger pot is a purpose built container - timber/brick/block etc, which can be a better solution.

    No need to apologise- we were all novices when we started  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited May 2023
    My pot-grown rhododebdrons stay in the same pot and compost for years.  Your plant looks fine.  Your pot looks the right size, any bigger would not be in proportion.

    Probably the hot, dry 2022 upset flower bud setting.  Keep well watered; rainwater best, but even hard tapwater is fine.  Wait for better flowers next year.

    Possibly a xWilliamsianum hybrid.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I meant to add @jomcbride1979, the soil level in the pot is also very low, so it's worth taking the rhodo out, and adding some soil at the bottom. That will refresh everything, and will allow you to see if it's a bit root bound too.
    Ideally you only want the soil level of the plant, about an inch or so from the top of the pot  :)
    I wish you luck with it and I'm sure it'll do fine. It's always more worrying when the plant has special meaning to you   :)
    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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