TimberLakers
Mame
I picked up this Azalea in October 2019 from a local collection sale. Plant was pretty overgrown at the time with branch extensions ~18 inches on either side of the pot.
Below pics I believe are front/back (Oct 19):
I pruned back pretty hard after getting it home due to limited space. Was looking to get some backbudding on older wood - then cut back further down the line.
There was a phantom pine tree in the pot (right side) and also a branch growing into the soil (on the left) that wedged into and rooted in the corner of the pot.
The following Spring (2020) I repotted into kanuma with black lava top. Tree had been in mostly potting soil prior. This was my hardest repot at the time - took about an hour to get the pot loose. I left the tree in the same pot I purchased it in - will change it up next repot.
I did very minimal work to this tree for the entire growing season - outside trimming downward branches and removing spent flowers. Last years growth was solid, but sparse as the tree recovered. This spring has been much stronger - I was no longer getting light into the center of the tree and flowers were emerging under leaves. Back/front before any trimming:
Good opportunity today to thin out the elongating shoots, remove dead leaves - and a little (early) attention on ugly old deadwood cuts. I'm going spend more time on deadwood over the next few weeks. Was also able to cut further back on the branches to nice strong leaders.
The top right branch has back-budded a bit, but the growth seems to be having trouble extending. I'm hoping this area will respond well to the trim.
Next up for this is to enjoy the rest of the flower show and wire the shoots behind today's cuts.
Below pics I believe are front/back (Oct 19):
I pruned back pretty hard after getting it home due to limited space. Was looking to get some backbudding on older wood - then cut back further down the line.
There was a phantom pine tree in the pot (right side) and also a branch growing into the soil (on the left) that wedged into and rooted in the corner of the pot.
The following Spring (2020) I repotted into kanuma with black lava top. Tree had been in mostly potting soil prior. This was my hardest repot at the time - took about an hour to get the pot loose. I left the tree in the same pot I purchased it in - will change it up next repot.
I did very minimal work to this tree for the entire growing season - outside trimming downward branches and removing spent flowers. Last years growth was solid, but sparse as the tree recovered. This spring has been much stronger - I was no longer getting light into the center of the tree and flowers were emerging under leaves. Back/front before any trimming:
Good opportunity today to thin out the elongating shoots, remove dead leaves - and a little (early) attention on ugly old deadwood cuts. I'm going spend more time on deadwood over the next few weeks. Was also able to cut further back on the branches to nice strong leaders.
The top right branch has back-budded a bit, but the growth seems to be having trouble extending. I'm hoping this area will respond well to the trim.
Next up for this is to enjoy the rest of the flower show and wire the shoots behind today's cuts.