Another Nursery Azalea Gets a Chop

MattE

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Thanks very much i will be sure to check, so far i haven't found to much stuff to work at, at my nurseries , all the junipers are the wrong kind, maples are really tall with skinny trunks, all the mugo's nabari is not nice.. im thinking yamadori is my best choice right now. seen a couple box woods may look into those a bit more. appreciate your help
 

Mellow Mullet

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Update:

I actually trimmed this one last week or so and just took pictures this week. Sorry, I didn't take any before pictures because it had really grown. Here is the results:

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I know that looks like a lot of soil, the bottom 1/2 to 2/3's is just large lava, like the kind you get at Home Depot. It is used to take up space and aid drainage.
 

Mellow Mullet

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UPDATE:

Since we have been having warmer weather, I decided to give this one a little trimming up and some wire. As you can see, this particular azalea loses almost all of its leaves in winter. I did not prune back too hard at this time as I did not want to make it start throwing out new growth, around March I will prune harder. Just basically removing crotch growth, "trident" forks, and upright growth.

Here it is before we start:

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This is the type of growth I will be removing:

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Snip...DSC02098-1.jpg
 
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Mellow Mullet

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Here she is, thinned out:

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And now for some wire. I have been working on my wiring, trying to make it look neater, while it is not show quality, I think it looks OK. Azaleas set fast and by spring I will be taking it off and all of the long branches will be cut way back.

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Eric Group

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Here she is, thinned out:

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And now for some wire. I have been working on my wiring, trying to make it look neater, while it is not show quality, I think it looks OK. Azaleas set fast and by spring I will be taking it off and all of the long branches will be cut way back.

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Looking good- the tree and the wiring.
Try to get a little more dramatic turns on the first bend if you can.. that is the ones you are likely to keep, and you can't bend these suckers good once they harden off a bit more. Gotta be careful as they will snap but I think you could bend a little harder if you tried!
 

j evans

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Nice trunk, wish our weather was as nice as yours appears. Great shopping along with your good work!
 

Mellow Mullet

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Looking good- the tree and the wiring.
Try to get a little more dramatic turns on the first bend if you can.. that is the ones you are likely to keep, and you can't bend these suckers good once they harden off a bit more. Gotta be careful as they will snap but I think you could bend a little harder if you tried!

I usually try to put a little more movement in them but this particular one is really brittle. I snapped two during the process.
 

GrimLore

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I usually try to put a little more movement in them but this particular one is really brittle. I snapped two during the process.

Only two! Hell that's good with most any for me! Thanks for the update - looking good! Might be a chance I can see that in person in April - PM me with a good time range to call and number ;)

Grimmy
 

mrt1

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Update please. ;)
 

Haoleboy

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Cool little tree. I haven't been able to find one with a decent trunk yet. But I'm still looking.
 

Adair M

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John, you're wiring the wrong part! As you've noted, lignified azalea is really brittle. It really doesn't "bend", it breaks.

What you should be wiring are those soft green shoots with the new leaves! Wire those and remove wire in 6 weeks or so. Cut back, let it grow out again. Then wire again. You could do this 3 or 4 times a year in your climate.
 

namnhi

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John, you're wiring the wrong part! As you've noted, lignified azalea is really brittle. It really doesn't "bend", it breaks.

What you should be wiring are those soft green shoots with the new leaves! Wire those and remove wire in 6 weeks or so. Cut back, let it grow out again. Then wire again. You could do this 3 or 4 times a year in your climate.
No he didn't if you read a few post above the last one. Those new ones are just brand new which am sure he will wire once they extend but not lignified.
 

Shima

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I usually try to put a little more movement in them but this particular one is really brittle. I snapped two during the process.
You can reduce snapping by using two wires next to each other and making the coils closer together. It really makes a difference.
 

Adair M

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No he didn't if you read a few post above the last one. Those new ones are just brand new which am sure he will wire once they extend but not lignified.
Well, he posted on January 5th that he had just wired it. There were no new shoots then! Those were lignified branches. Very brittle.

His latest picture shows some wire on lignified branches. I can't tell if that was wire from the January 5 application that's still on, or if it has been freshly applied.

What I DO see are fresh green shoots, none of which have been wired. Some of these new shoots have already been shortened.

The technique I recommend is to NOT shorten the new shoots yet, but instead wire them into place. If there are any downward leaves on the stem after wiring, pull those off. Put in movement close to the base of each wired branch, up and down, side to side.

That wire should stay on about 6 weeks, maybe less, until it begins to cut in. THEN remove wire, and cut back.

@Shima, are saying to lay two wires next to each other? Or wire "double helix" style? Double helix is two wires running up the branch, parallel, but not touching each other. That method CAN help reduce breaking as there's more places where the wire can be on the outside of the curve, supporting the branch. The angle the wires are placed are still the 45 degree angle. You want to avoid wrapping wire in a tight spiral, like a spring. Wire has little holding strength when coiled like a spring.

MarkyScott showed some "double helix" wiring on one of his threads on maples. Sorry, I don't remember which one. It is a valid way of wiring, especially for varieties with brittle branches. It does not look as "pretty" as two wires placed side by side, and sometimes it can look as if the branch is overwired. But it's safer.
 
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