The Good Life of Georgia

By Carl Varnadoe

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“Have loppers, will prune” is often the thought in many people’s heads as we approach spring. This is fine for some plants in the landscape, while it is a major “oops” for others. Azaleas are the perfect example. Prune them before they bloom, and “oops” you have really messed up!

Pruning azaleas at the wrong time of year will ruin their expected flush of flowers. The inclination for most folks is to get out and prune everything at the end of February or once the temperatures begin to rise. However, the best time to prune, or cut back, azaleas is not until right after the flowers have faded or fallen off. There are two important reasons to prune at this time.

The first is to allow the new growth time to mature enough to form flower buds. That way they’ll be able to flower next spring. Pruning in late summer or early fall will remove next spring’s flower buds. Extensive late-summer pruning also stimulates new foliage growth. Late pruning can delay the plant’s maturity, and that too can keep it from setting any new flower buds. In the spring following a late summer pruning, the plant won’t have very many blooms at all. You will be sorely disappointed.

Plants that are cut back extensively right after they flower may require another light pruning in early summer to increase branching or to thin out excessive or “leggy” branches. A light pruning in early summer shouldn’t reduce the plant’s bud count.

The second reason to prune azaleas right after the flowers fall off is to allow the new tissue time to harden off. That helps the shoots avoid freeze damage in the fall or winter. I’ve seen many cases in which people pruned plants during the summer, and the new growth was damaged by an early fall cold snap. The result is that the new shoots usually die. The resulting death, however, won’t show up until the next spring

If you see dead shoots on azaleas, look for split bark on the lower branches or stems. When the bark is completely split, the branch will usually die by spring. If the bark is only partially split, you may not see dead branches until next fall. By then, fungi and other organisms that enter the damaged tissue will have destroyed the xylem (that’s the woody vascular part of the plant vital to the stem’s life). Dead shoots can be cut off below the damage. The plant itself will be O.K. and continue to perform.

If you want your azaleas to be the envy of the neighborhood, prune them correctly. Remember this simple rule of thumb; if it blooms in early spring, prune after the flowers fade. If it blooms in the summer, prune in the spring. When you prune azaleas correctly, you’ll be saying “ah” instead of “oops.”

Carl Varnadoe is the Madison County Extension Coordinator.

The Good Life, May 2008, page 8

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