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Rhodedendrums and azaleas,and camelia
bugsbunny2
Posts: 23
in Talkback
My rhodedendrums, azaleas and a camelia have all got to tall and bushy for my garden they must be 25years old and the camelia possibly 10 years old .That is spreading outwards and I would prefer it to grow upwardsThey are all planted next to each other in a border .So I wondered if I could prune them.I must say when they are in flower they look beautiful.
0
Posts
They can all be pruned, but in order to keep them flowering the following year it should be done after flowering, so probably a bit late really for this year. However, I've pruned rhodies and azaleas at any time of year - it largely depends on the maturity of the plant and how much you chop off. I inherited a large rhodie here and hacked it back a lot last summer. It still flowered but slightly less. After pruning, give them a feed water well and mulch.
Bear in mind that Camellias start forming their buds in late summer so it's best to leave that till just after flowering next spring. Their natural habit is to grow outwards as well as upwards and you may sacrifice a lot of flowers if you continually prune it into a more upright shape. Giving it a good prune next year and then keeping it tidied each year after that will probably be the best solution.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you to you both for your advice much appreciated,