Collected Azalea

[dbonsaiw]

I collected an azalea hidden in vines in my front yard today. Pruned the roots considerably (more than in the pic below) and also cut two dead branches off the mid trunk. Sealed with the green paste (that's what I had on hand). That left a nice trunk. Also reduced the height by cutting down the trunk below the split. Planted in a 16X16X3.5" box.

Any pointers and/or ideas for next steps would be appreciated.

 

[Shibui]

Next step is to protect it over winter, cross fingers and anything else you can think of that may help and wait patiently.
Some azaleas take longer to recover from transplant than others. Looks like you have kept a good amount of roots so hopefully it will recover quicker but either way don't try any further work until it is well and truly recovered. That could be 12 months or 2 years, occasionally longer.
IMHO there's no point making plans now because you cannot predict which parts will live and which will grow stronger or stay too weak to use.
The lower bend looks ideal for informal upright style but growth in some places and not in others could change that completely.