‘Yardadori’ Azalea

[Beav13]

I recently dug this azalea from a landscape of a house being demolished. It had to be emergently dug up to save it. It’s now about 2 weeks stable in a pre bonsai pot with good soil and recovering. I removed about 80% or more of the foliage and it is growing again with several branches showing new buds (meaning roots are doing well...).

My main question is, should I hard prune the branches to bonsai level now (fall) or allow it to recover and hard prune in late winter/spring? Most importantly, I want it to survive the winter and I think sending out new roots to recover a late season transplant is good. I also don’t want it to waste a ton of energy on shoots that will not be there in March though. Should I wait to hard prune?

Also, I think I’ve found my front. Some ideas with how hard to prune to shape some of these primary branches would be nice.

 

[Forrestford]

Nice find man, that’s a cool trunk! Yeah you got the right idea just let it be for now until next spring.

 

[Shibui]

You have found a very nice trunk. Now you need to take a deep breath and take some time in order to keep it alive.
Azaleas are very good at producing new shoots after pruning. New shoots does not always mean new roots. They can just use the energy they have stored up to grow some new leaves. Some of my collected azaleas have grown great new shoots all over for a couple of years before growing new roots.
It appears that leaves make food that then helps new roots to regenerate so I would leave all the new growth on your tree so it has an opportunity to get better established in its new home. Do not prune now. Leave it alone at least till spring though i would leave it a full year or more after collecting before I start doing further pruning and styling. New shoots are not a waste of energy. They are energy produces helping the tree to recover from the recent assault. If you remove them now it will need to start over.

When it is time you should be able to prune branches right back as far as required because azaleas are so good at making buds, even on older, bare wood so you can cut as short as needed. The red planned cut marks are a bit haphazard but it appears you are planning to cut near smaller side branches which is good. The 2 upright trunks appear to be quite straight and without taper. I don't think they fit very well with the great curving base below. I would consider cutting those ones quite a bit lower, possibly removing them both completely so the new trunk is along the curving trunk now at the front, right of the photos. Without seeing the tree in 3D it is hard to judge all the movement so that idea may not work. you will need to make the final decisions on where to cut and what to leave.

There's no indication of your climate zone. If you have cold winters the tree will need winter protection. in milder areas like mine they can stay outside all year round, even straight after collecting from the garden. adding some sort of general location to your profile can help get better advice tailored to your conditions.

 

[Beav13]

You have found a very nice trunk. Now you need to take a deep breath and take some time in order to keep it alive.
Azaleas are very good at producing new shoots after pruning. New shoots does not always mean new roots. They can just use the energy they have stored up to grow some new leaves. Some of my collected azaleas have grown great new shoots all over for a couple of years before growing new roots.
It appears that leaves make food that then helps new roots to regenerate so I would leave all the new growth on your tree so it has an opportunity to get better established in its new home. Do not prune now. Leave it alone at least till spring though i would leave it a full year or more after collecting before I start doing further pruning and styling. New shoots are not a waste of energy. They are energy produces helping the tree to recover from the recent assault. If you remove them now it will need to start over.

When it is time you should be able to prune branches right back as far as required because azaleas are so good at making buds, even on older, bare wood so you can cut as short as needed. The red planned cut marks are a bit haphazard but it appears you are planning to cut near smaller side branches which is good. The 2 upright trunks appear to be quite straight and without taper. I don't think they fit very well with the great curving base below. I would consider cutting those ones quite a bit lower, possibly removing them both completely so the new trunk is along the curving trunk now at the front, right of the photos. Without seeing the tree in 3D it is hard to judge all the movement so that idea may not work. you will need to make the final decisions on where to cut and what to leave.

There's no indication of your climate zone. If you have cold winters the tree will need winter protection. in milder areas like mine they can stay outside all year round, even straight after collecting from the garden. adding some sort of general location to your profile can help get better advice tailored to your conditions.

Thank you for your thoughts. I tend to agree with you on the two upright branches. Still not sure what to do. I live in Memphis TN so climate zone 7b/8.

 

[augustine]

Keep it in light shade, water properly, not too much or too little. (It may not be taking a lot of water depending on state of root system after collection.) When weather gets cold keep it out of the wind and keep from freezing.

Next year do not prune or mess with it, let it get vigorous. This is a good find.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice find. I may have missed it, you did not say where you are growing this. Severity of your winter will come into play on recovery.

If this tree were mine: I would make sure it is sheltered from winter wind and winter sun. Do not move it back into sun until you see new growth begin in spring.

I would do zero "bonsai pruning" or "Bonsai training" for the entire 2020 season. Just sun, water and fertilizer for 2020. The reason in you need this tree to recover. You need it to build a new root system and strength. In a few weeks, go through and cut off almost all the flower buds. As flowering can drain energy away from roots and strengthening the tree. Give it the year to recover, it will reward you with being ready to work in 2021.

 

[leatherback]

Good find. Dont ruin it by messing with it. Take at least a year before pruning i would say. Let it get on its roots and then prune back. Take this year to look at multiple design options. The obvious is not always the best

 

[shinmai]

Very cool trunk, looks like several stems in a clump fused together. I agree with the consensus...if you just dug it up, which is so much more traumatic than repotting a nursery refugee, you need to give it time. I would suggest waiting until after flowering in 2020 before any significant pruning, and a year after that for putting it in a bonsai pot. You have a real gem there if you can exercise the necessary patience.