what to do with straight shoots on azaleas

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Hot pink, red, and white azaleas burnish many southern yards each spring. They're quite piece of cake to constitute and, if you care for them properly, you'll exist greeted by their dazzling blooms year after yr. Evergreen varieties also proceed your g looking cheerful even through the winter months. See Step 1 to learn how to plant azaleas and keep them healthy for years to come.

1. 1

   Pick the right azalea for your garden. Azaleas are popularly grown in the southeastern United States because they do well with mild winters and long summers. Azaleas are hardy plants that don't need much care. Unlike types of azaleas accept slightly different needs, and so pay attention to what type yous choice out to ensure you'll be satisfied with the results. Azaleas are available in two main classes:

   • Native azaleas grow like small copse and don't need pruning. About are deciduous (lose leaves in the winter) and are able to tolerate warmer temperatures.^[1]
   • Asian azaleas grow every bit shrubs and are bachelor in 2 varieties, both of which are evergreen:
     • Kurume hybrids. These are vivid ruby and go along well-contained in i area. They can exist planted in containers, raised beds or direct in the ground, and won't get larger than three or 4 feet (0.9 or i.2 m) tall. They don't crave much maintenance.
     • Southern Indian hybrids, on the other mitt, grow very tall and large. They come in many colors, notably hot pink and white and tin hands abound tall enough to cover a window or door. If you have a lot of space, this might be a good option for you, just yous may accept to prune them from fourth dimension to time.
   • The Azalea Society or your local nursery can make recommendations on the type of azalea to constitute in your area. In that location are hybrid descriptions and examples online or in local garden and landscaping shops. Stick with one type of azalea or incorporate several different colors and species into the garden for multifariousness. – The option is yours.

2. 2

   Choose a shady planting spot. Notice a place in the garden or chiliad with some shade - "dappled shade," as many azalea enthusiasts term it. This particular mix of shade and sunlight is perfect for azaleas. If you plant them in full sunlight, they won't grow as well. According to the Azalea Guild of America, azaleas flower well when planted under shady copse.

   • In that location are deciduous azalea varieties that do well with total sunday, so bank check into these if you don't accept much shade bachelor.

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3. 3

   Make sure the soil drains well. Azaleas need soil that drains very well, rather than retaining water after a rain. To determine whether the soil drains well where you desire to plant your azalea, dig a hole before it rains, so check dorsum afterward. If the hole is filled with standing water, the soil doesn't drain well; information technology'south likely highly composed of dirt. If the water is gone, the soil should exist fine for azaleas.

   • If the soil doesn't drain well, you can mix it with compost or other organic affair in order to loosen it upward. Till it to a depth of several feet to break it up, so mix in the other well-draining matter. Another option is to establish your azalea in a pot or a raised bed, where you can control the soil drainage more easily.

4. 4

   Determine the soil'due south acidity. Azaleas prefer a slightly acidic soil, such as a pH 5.5 or pH half-dozen. If a soil exam reveals an alkali metal soil, mix some sulfur into the dirt earlier planting to balance it.

   • Avoid planting azaleas near concrete sidewalks, driveways or foundations that may leach out lime (which tin enhance the pH of the nearby soil.)^[ii]

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1. i

   Dig a hole and establish the azalea. Apply a garden shovel to dig a hole in the clay deep enough to embrace the root and lesser of the plant. Remove the azalea from its container and loosen the roots. If it is pot-spring (roots tightly circling and too close together) you may need to cut some roots in social club to do this. Dig a few inches wider than the ball of the root, and set the azalea upright in the hole and so that the summit of the root brawl is slightly to a higher place the surface of the ground. Drop soil into the hole effectually the plant. Spread it around and under the azalea, and lightly pat it into place with your fingertips.

   • Wet the azalea before planting. Dip the root ball in a bucket of h2o, or use a hose to lightly dampen it, earlier setting the azalea into the footing.^[three]
   • If you are planting more than one azalea, make sure the holes are space several feet apart.

2. 2

   Water the azalea establish. H2o the plant and the soil slowly and thoroughly. Water once again the day after planting. The plants must be watered at least in one case per week, unless they are in directly sunlight, in which example they must be watered more frequently. Take care non to let the azalea dry out out, or information technology will wither.

3. 3

   Keep the azalea well-mulched. Use pine bark, pine needles, sawdust or woods chips betwixt the bushes. This volition go on the soil moist and the temperature of the clay even. Mulch will also assistance go on out weeds. A expert fourth dimension to re-utilize mulch might be subsequently the blooms have faded.

4. four

   Just fertilize the azalea if required. If your soil is rich and acid, in that location is probably no need to fertilize and generally azaleas grow quite well without extra nutrients. In fact, over-fertilizing is often worse than not fertilizing at all since their shallow root systems tin be damaged by fertilizer.^[iv] If yous practise need to fertilize, do it in spring, right after the azalea blooms. Use an acrid forming fertilizer like cottonseed meal, or choose a special azalea fertilizer.

   • Improper fertilizing can also cause the plant to blossom at the wrong fourth dimension, and so be sure to fertilize only if required.

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1. ane

   Trim away dead branches in the spring. Pruning azalea plants early on volition permit the plant's energy to be directed toward producing new growth. Appraise your azalea to find dead branches and other spots that need trimming. Use a pair of paw clippers to thin the azaleas. Prune out any dead branches.

   • Don't go overboard with this early-season pruning. Each healthy branch you lot cut away is a branch that could take produced cute spring flowers. If you want to drastically change the shape of your azalea, look until afterwards in the summer.

2. two

   Do a light pruning afterwards the blooms fade. At present is the time to reshape your azalea shrub if you wish. Cutting long, stray shoots next to woody branches to retain the azalea's natural form. Trim back areas that seem too crowded to promote air menstruation and better the look of the bush. Be certain you make careful cuts - don't apply hedge clippers to trim the bush willy nilly.

   • Don't prune too belatedly in the year. Clip no later than 3 weeks subsequently the blooms have gone - otherwise, you'll be cut away adjacent year's flower growth.

3. 3

   Do a drastic pruning when necessary. If yous have an azalea that has grown to large proportions and you're ready to cut it back, you can safely cutting it to inside a foot of the ground and it will grow back bushy and cute. Do it after the blooms of spring accept faded, so the institute has fourth dimension to reestablish itself before the next phase of growth.

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Add New Question

• Question

  How tin can I tell if my azaleas are going to survive where I am?

  

  Katherine Gohmann is a Professional Gardener in Texas. She has been a home gardener and professional person gardener since 2008.

  

  Professional Gardener

  Skilful Answer

• Question

  Is leftover coffee good for plants in minor doses?

  

  Yes, but information technology is better if you give tea leftovers, considering it provides more protein to the found than coffee leftovers.

• Question

  Where's a good place to plant azaleas?

  

  The ones with more shade do better than those in total sunday, in my experience, so choose a location that provides some embrace.

• Question

  Can the clippings from the root start to grow new plants?

  

  Aye, yous tin can use the clippings from the roots to get-go to grow new plants.

• Question

  How far apart should the plants exist spaced?

  

  Azalea plants should be spaced 24 to 36 inches apart. You can use double rows 10 inches autonomously if infinite is limited.

• Question

  How can I tell how much sun my azaleas should get?

  

  Azaleas need fractional shade. Information technology is thought that azaleas practice better with morning time sunday and afternoon shade.

• Question

  How do I know if my azalea is dead?

  

  Scratch the bark. If it's green underneath, it'southward nevertheless alive. If it'south all brown instead of green on all of the stems, it's dead.

• Question

  My azalea has been in our yard for six years. Tin I transplant it afterward it blooms?

  

  Yes. I dug several upwardly and moved them over xx miles away. Placed them back in the ground and they never missed a season.

• Question

  Can azaleas be planted in an area where water stays for a couple of days after rain?

  

  No, well drained soil is a must with azaleas. Dig down 2 feet deep, add together compost to the soil and mix well.

• Question

  How do I know what zone I am in?

  

  Search for "USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map." Enter your zip code on the website and click "Find."

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Video

• Avoid fungal infections by using a fungicidal spray if petal blight is noticed (petals plough brown and mushy), or leafage gall shows up (small white spores that may turn dark-brown).

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• Endeavor to go on the pH of the soil somewhat acidic with an ideal range of 4.5 - 5.5pH

• Do not fertilize azaleas. It can cause the establish to bloom at the wrong time.

• Think that azaleas are poisonous. Not but can eating whatever part of the plant lead to poisoning, just honey fabricated past bees feeding on azaleas can become poisonous equally well!^[v]

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Things You'll Need

• Raised garden bed or pot
• Soil
• Azalea plant(s)
• Water
• Hand clippers
• Mulch

About This Article

Article Summary X

If you desire to plant azaleas, dig a hole that is deep enough to embrace the root brawl and the bottom of the plant. Utilise your hands to loosen the roots, then dip the root ball in a bucket of h2o. Set the azalea upright in the hole and pat the soil effectually the roots, then gently water the plant and the soil. Water it again the day after planting, then in one case a calendar week later that. Cover the ground effectually the azalea with mulch to aid go along the soil moist and stabilize the temperature of the roots. Read on for tips from our horticulture reviewer on how to prepare the soil before planting.

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