Old Leggy Azalea

[j evans]

Here is the azalea that I posted about digging back in April. I dug it a couple of weeks ago with the intention of getting it into a five gallon nursery pot just slipping into something for the time being. I made a couple of slices with the shovel over several weeks to ready it for its removal. When I dug the bush there wasn't much there as for roots. It seems that when it was planted they put black plastic fairly tightly around the base of the bush then as the years went by soil built up on top of the plastic. This caused some roots on the lower end and then a mass of fine roots in another layer at the top of the root ball. When I got home I really didn't have enough of a root ball for the pot but a wider root mass that fit into a 18" bowl with some, not a lot of room for growth. The plant seems to be enjoying its new home with putting out some new leaves since it has been receiving regular water and some fertilizer. I have been watching almost everyone whack their azaleas down to lumps and having them sprout back to life. I would like to drastically reduce this but due to its poor lifestyle choices in the past, the limited amount of roots and our extreme heat (105+/- today) I am thinking that I am better waiting until later. Are these best to do in the spring or can I get away with doing some reduction in the fall in order to make this a bit more manageable size wise to overwinter?

 

[j evans]

Here is the bush as it sits now. How would you approach this?

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Nice curves. My advise. Use the foliage to produce healthy roots in a good soil medium. Might be an option to wash the soil off and replace everything with the good stuff (whatever that is for you), next year at the appropriate time. After that the tree will grow vigorous. After that backbudding will occur. Than you cut it down to its basic structure at the most appropriate time in your zone. Cutting back on a weaker plant will have less effect and might kill it.

 

[Eric Group]

I don't want to guess at the health of this tree... {skip to the two stars at the bottom ** if you want to skip all my blathering and long winded stories}But keeping in mind these are basically bushes that have survived- and thrived- with people drastically pruning them to shape for generations- just ask yourself "if this tree was still in the ground, would I prune it now?" They are kind of like Boxwoods in that they adapt very well to BEING pruned all the time...

Again, no judgement on the health of this specific tree, but I can tell you this- I took a tree that I thought at one point in the summer was DEAD. It had been absolutely RAVAGED by a black fungus, and was far from healthy! That was two years ago. That fall- a year and a half ago- I dug it up, bare rooted it, cut it back hard and Nuked it with some fungicides- most of those things are not recommended to do to a healthy azalea that time of year, let alone one that was struggling to stay alive and riddled with disease. Today, it is a thriving bush again! It tried to grow all through the winter, tossing out little nubs of buds that died off at the next freeze... Last year it grew like a runaway train! This year so far- same thing..

That said, I have also had what I thought was a healthy azalea drop dead when chopped and root pruned at the "right" time and treated pretty well... So, I don't want to come right out and tell you it will 100% be fine if you chop it now... But (this is where you can skip to the end if you don't want to read the story..)** if it is growing after the repot, you are pretty much out of the woods IMO.

 

[j evans]

So when I go to cut back this azalea what are my options for the cuttings and what is the best option in your opinion? Am I able to do hardwood cuttings if I cut it in the fall or if I cut it in the spring what can I do then? Of course I'd like to maximize the number of plants that I might realize from cutting this plant back. Thanks.

Jamie

 

[j evans]

This plant has been sitting in the shade with daily drinks of cool water and just enjoying life. It seems to have adjusted well to being in a pot and it has new leaves and has started to backbud some on the long branches. This fall is going to bring on a new challenge as the pot is 18" across so you can see how wide the plant is, probably 3 1/2 feet. My wintering area is restricted so I would really like to get this plant reduced some if possible before putting to rest for the winter. Any input or thoughts on cutting it back this fall and is there any possibility of using any of the cuttings? I need some input to solve this situation. Thanks.

Jamie

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The time in 2015 perfect for chopping it back hard was when you dug it up. But that is the past. So far so good. Eric is right, azaleas tend to be survivors, though they are not totally bullet proof. They do sometimes die on you, especially intolerant of being dried out hard.

I would probably would just leave it alone until after the first flush of growth in spring of 2016, then say sometime in June do the hard cut back.

About wintering. This was in the landscape, in your neighborhood. It is fully hardy in your area. If you had a spot in the garden that is in full shade for the winter, you could just bury the pot to the rim, and put a layer of loose mulch about 4 to 6 inches deep. As long as it is not exposed to dehydrating sun in winter, it should winter as well as it did as a landscape plant. I winter many trees that way, if they are normally hardy in my area as landscape trees. This is not a good option for refined trees, but "potensai" not ready for prime time, in plastic pots, this is quite acceptable.

Cuttings, yes, azalea root relatively easy from cuttings, semi-hardwood cuttings in July or August. Larger hardwood cuttings are taken in fall, and sometimes root over the winter. You should be able to get better than 30% take rate, even without using a rooting hormone. Use peat moss, or sphagnum, or perlite or a blend of peat and perlite to root your cuttings.

Nice start, a few years of work and this could be quite nice, you have the most difficult part done, a thick trunk. The rest will come together, perhaps in less than a decade, maybe less than 5 years. Fast by bonsai standards.

 

[j evans]

Well I decided to put this bush in a box and mulch it in. Before I did though I wanted to get a picture showing the change from back in June. It has seen a lot of growth and the foliage has greened up. One thing that appealed to me was the small leaves as seen in the early photos. With better care, water and some fertilizer it seem that the leaves have increased in size. I am hoping that I can later reduce these back down. I have read about the drastic cutting back of azaleas I am thinking that I do not want to go quite that far on this one, that I want to save some of the larger braches to go along with the larger trunk.

 

[j evans]

Here are some closer shots

 

[Robert E Holt]

Great looking Azalea! It looks like it is thriving in it's new environment. Some of the thicker branches that you talk about wanting to save are pretty straight. If you can get some backbidding in the spring I think I would cut that right trunk just above the set of branches above the white tag. I would want to see some budding in the area to make sure the roots continue to supply it with nutrients. I like the curve in the left branch, but it is a bit far out on the trunk. Lube you could cut below the curve and try to root it. I have had great success this year in rooting azalea branches.

 

[Robert E Holt]

By the way, do you know the variety? I notice it still has a tag on it, if it's readable.

 

[Eric Group]

Really needs a big chop... In the Spring...

I'd remove those shoots in the middle completely and focus on the right branch in the last pic as my new trunk line. Shorten the left branch severely, and let it bud out as a new first branch. Just how I see it... Hard to tell from the pics exactly what you have, but there is some age and character there which take a LONNNNNG time for most azaleas to develop.

No, sawgrass, I do not see World Class potential in this one either, but there IS potential for a nice little tree here!

Clean the bark with a Tooth brush and some water around the base and lower trunk to see what you have a little better. Don't damage the bark, just get all the first and gunk off... Looks like there is something on it on one side especially.

 

[Robert E Holt]

Another option for "cuttings" is to airlayer some of the larger branches. Gives you better assurance that they will root. It means you will have to wait a little longer to begin styling, but less risk of killing the branches that you would like to make into trees.

 

[j evans]

Well with what I think is about a month until time to do some chops I am looking at this again. Wouldn't mind trying some air layering but hate to not do any chops for another year. What about doing a hard chop before it leafs out and trying to root the branches? Using some hormone and putting into loose porous soil? Are the odds of older branches rooting decent or ? Yes I want my cake and eat it too OR maybe someone has a better idea. Please throw them out there I am wanting to know what you would do. Thanks for the help

Jamie

 

[Kodama16]

Wait till it leafs out. They root easy. Just keep the humidity up on the cuttings.

 

[Eric Group]

Well with what I think is about a month until time to do some chops I am looking at this again. Wouldn't mind trying some air layering but hate to not do any chops for another year. What about doing a hard chop before it leafs out and trying to root the branches? Using some hormone and putting into loose porous soil? Are the odds of older branches rooting decent or ? Yes I want my cake and eat it too OR maybe someone has a better idea. Please throw them out there I am wanting to know what you would do. Thanks for the help

Jamie

Azaleas make kind of... "Wimpy"/ thin, fiber out roots and it seems from my experience they don't support large cuttings as well.. Smaller branches root easier. Not to say it is impossible, just harder to root the larger ones as cuttings. Never layered one but I plan to try it this year specifically due to my lack of success with larger cuttings!

 

[sorce]

I don't think a cutting, or a layer, is going to get you a better tree than what you have....

That Said....of you're looking to propagate for other reasons.....I'd hapahazardly take cuttings and not care of they root.

I think you got enough base and trunk going on to start working this.
Focus on it....

Besides....you found this.....I'm sure you can find another before any of your propagation efforts grow to this cool.

Focus!

Sorce

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Nice taper. Remove the large branches, do the chop. First picture, bit lower than the top of the hedge.

 

[Kodama16]

I don't think a cutting, or a layer, is going to get you a better tree than what you have....

That Said....of you're looking to propagate for other reasons.....I'd hapahazardly take cuttings and not care of they root.

I think you got enough base and trunk going on to start working this.
Focus on it....

Besides....you found this.....I'm sure you can find another before any of your propagation efforts grow to this cool.

Focus!

Sorce

Agree

 

[Lazylightningny]

Maybe just get it into some good bonsai soil this spring and let it establish for another year? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you just collected it last April, and you said the roots were pretty marginal. Something to think about.