New Azalea...Pruning Questions

[kornfeld]

I picked this azalea up at a local nursery, and I'm very happy with the find. Here's how it started out:



The surface roots aren't great in the textbook-radial-and-neat way, but I think they're fantastic and very interesting. They remind me of something you'd see in a fairy tale:



I trimmed it back a bit and ended up with this:



Which brings me to my question. Many of the branches are completely lignified, with two or more new shoots toward the end of each branch. It appears to me that this plant was trimmed back pretty hard all the way around and no leaves were left on some branches. These branches with no leaves then sprouted new growth, as opposed to dying off. This is how it appears to me, but I don't know what I'm talking about.

Is it possible to trim a branch down to the point that it has zero leaves and zero shoots on it and not kill it? Do azaleas respond this way to pruning? I want to reduce the size of the canopy a bit more, but I can't do so in many places without cutting some branches all the way down to wood and removing all leaves from that branch. In the end, I'd rather have this look more like a tree, and end up with fewer blooms; as opposed to sacrificing the tree aspect, and maximizing blooms.

Many thanks!

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

It's more complicated than a simple yes or no... because the truth can be both.

At the right time... and in the right health... ohhhhh yes!

But otherwise no.

This goes back to the fact that Azalea has two distinct growth pushes each year that it does regardless of what you do. One in the early spring in prep for flowering, and another in late summer in prep for flower setting that happens by October.

The best time to do a hard prune from my experience is after flower. Makes deadheading a breeze to. But it can be early or later than that if you understand how it'll effect subsequent flowering. By doing it post-flower but pre-flower setting, you'll not miss a beat in getting blooms for the next year.

Outside of that timing you'll likely effect your blooms. Which isn't a big deal in and of itself really.

Now... be aware that on large older material than this, radical pruning even at an optimal time can cause die back to the level of the roots. It may not kill the whole tree, but you'll likely loose sections. This is especially true on large specimens you are collecting from yards etc.

So if you can always leave some small amount of life on a section to be heavily pruned you'll be more successful.

As to your tree, the scale of the trunk actually calls for this to be more of a shohin sized tree than what it currently is. You DO have lovely rootage, but that's lost in the visual mass of the top. In Judging I think 65% of the score is what is going on at the base... THAT's how important it is. The rest should frame and compliment that foundation. With the mass of foliage you have, you don't see it, because it doesn't draw you in to it.

So either go small, or if you have the option.... plant it out and do some ground work with it.

Remember... if you go small... the flowers will always be the same size, even if you manage to get a little leaf reduction in the foliage.

Have fun!

Victrinia

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

Oh... and one more thing... when I prune branches back... it's often to 1/2 a leaf or so. No joke.

 

[kornfeld]

Awesome, thanks for the information. I suppose I'll leave it in the pot for now, and wait for any major pruning until after the springtime flowering.

Another specific question: There is a long green shoot on the left hand side that is coming out from the trunk. I'm thinking of wiring this down and making another primary branch out of it, but it's obviously waaay behind the development of the other primary branches. It's also quite a bit lower. Anyone have any thoughts on keeping or chopping that?

 

[kornfeld]

During the initial prune, I removed a good sized branch that was pointing straight out toward the front. It looks like it's bleeding now:



Is this a reason for concern? Should I put something on the wound to seal it? I've read all sorts of mixed opinions on using sealant on cuts like this, so I've left other cuts on other trees alone. They seem to be doing just fine. This one looks (obviously) very different.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ris]

During the initial prune, I removed a good sized branch that was pointing straight out toward the front. It looks like it's bleeding now:

View attachment 27027

Is this a reason for concern? Should I put something on the wound to seal it? I've read all sorts of mixed opinions on using sealant on cuts like this, so I've left other cuts on other trees alone. They seem to be doing just fine. This one looks (obviously) very different.

Any thoughts?

That is the sap which when or if your tool was dull causing a crush rather than a clean cut.
I would clean up the sap and use cut paste on it.
I hope the branch don't die back

Good Luck.
Rishi
CA.

 

[Stan Kengai]

When using knob or wen cutters on an azalea, be sure to have the blades perpendicular to the base branch/trunk, not parallel as you normally would, so that you're cutting against the grain.

 

[kornfeld]

Thanks for the info. The cut and trunk were totally dry this morning. It needed to be watered, so I watered it, and we'll see what it looks like this afternoon. I'll probably seal it up.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Ris]

Oh... and one more thing... when I prune branches back... it's often to 1/2 a leaf or so. No joke.

Hello Victrinia,
From your reply I can see your very experienced with azaleas

I bought 3 satsuki azaleas earlier this year but havent done any wiring or pruning due to getting them way after the bloom season...
When do you wire branches?
Should I wait till after next spring?
here is a video of it enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAr-gvXfiAA
thanks Rishi.

 

[kornfeld]

Another question:

The leaves and stems have some discoloration on them, and I'm not sure if it's something that warrants any worry or not.

You can see some black spots on these leaves, and one leaf at the top center looks like it's been munched on a bit:



And the hairs on the stems are dark (not sure if this is normal or not):



I realize these aren't the best pictures, but the leaves don't photograph well. I can get some more specific images if need be, though.

So...any thoughts? After reading around, it seems like it might be bugs, or a fungus, or who knows what. I don't see any bugs anywhere on the plant, but I might not be looking for the right thing.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[kornfeld]

I read some more, and I think I had some sort of bugs on the bottom of the leaves that were munching on the leaves and sucking juices out. I hosed everything down with horticultural oil, so hopefully that takes care of it!

 

[kornfeld]

Update

My last post on this tree was a little over a year ago. I was having issues with leaves turning yellow as well as developing little black spots all over them. I tried horticultural oil, and it did nothing. I then went to Ace and bought a bottle of non-organic, non-earth-friendly, scorched-earth-policy pesticide. Two or three applications, and it did the trick. The tree looks much healthier now, as shown in the video. It needs to be pruned way down, but I figured I should make sure it was in good health before I got too carried away with that.

[video=youtube;s1XaO8cSbks]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1XaO8cSbks&feature=c4-overview&list=UUdT8aYBjFiK0cW23t7N7tLg[/video]

The plan from here is to do a major branch reduction and the final root reduction and get it into an actual bonsai pot. Not quite sure when I should do that though, so I'll need to do some more research.