Input on reclaimed Azalea bush? What should/could I do?

[Unearthed]

Hello!

I have an uprooted Azalea that's quite old, been caring for it for about a year now... I just recently did a second pass at pruning dead wood to get a better look at the trunk structure. There are several trunks, and it looks as though there may be a few separate plants swirled around each other? There's also this big gap in the middle which does not look very appealing...

I'm looking for advice on what my options are / what you'd recommend - I'm still only a couple years into this hobby and have only worked with much younger material. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Glaucus]

Hmm, I am thinking that just using all branches, low on taper, moving to all sides, is best. You'd remove the branch/stubs in the center. And maybe the one blocking the front (whatever your best front would be), so the viewer has a clear view on all the branches..
And then you do your best bet at putting very refined foliage pads at the right spot on the branches you have.

You just try to work with what you have. It would take 2 or 3 decades to make this a single trunk tree with good taper. Not completely impossible, but you are better off leveraging what you have.
So your design will just have a bunch of bald branches coming from the soil line, like an octopus, and you show your skill in working on very refined foliage pads.

 

[Joe Dupre']

It's hard to tell from the pic, but the center does look to have a big gap. I would maybe try tilting the tree drastically in several directions and maybe some kind of line might make itself evident. You may have to eventually cut some low branches to allow for tilt and the new line.

 

[Shibui]

There will always be a number of different possibilities for most trees and trees with multiple trunks usually have even more possible good options.

I agree that making something from what you have or most of it is usually the best and fastest solution.
Styling by remote from just a few photos is hard for a single trunk tree and almost impossible for multi trunk trees where just a small turn one way or the other can make a major difference in how the trunks look and interact. Spend some time turning the tree slowly and watching how the trunks look and how they look in relation to each other. Pick a couple of possible attractive options and post photos from front on at eye level for opinions.
You have plenty of trunks so not all trunks need to be retained. You may find some options that look great except for 1 or 2 trunks crossing or growing in awkward direction so look at those considering how it will look with 1 or more trunks removed.

Multi trunk Azaleas can easily and successfully divided so also look for spots where one half or part of the trunks looks good. Will removing the other part be possible? Leave enough roots for one or both to survive? Often all trunks together won't look good but when divided into sections each section can be separately rotated to find good viewing points. I've previously divided several azalea clumps like this to produce several better clumps or individual trunk trees.