Einbrecher
Seedling
Title is somewhat self explanatory - I've got an Azalea (variety unknown) collected from my landscaping (nothing super old) that I'm looking to prune down this year. I'm zone 7b, but we've had a really mild winter so far, so I'm not sure if I should be accelerating that schedule or not. I'm also not sure if I should do a hard chop and prune down the roots, or just do one (if so, which) and then the other.
I've lurked and poked around enough that I'm confident I know how to manage the trunk chop, but I've seen a lot of mixed information regarding the roots. I'm a beginner, but I know enough to be dangerous.
So, the history:
- I pulled this Azalea from a garden bed before we moved in 2018. It was planted in general garden soil - shallow at that - on top of a clay substrate. Lucked out because the roots were very horizontal - I don't think the root ball is more than 7-8 inches deep. It is super wide, however.
- Up until then, it was treated/trimmed like a bush. Probably standard in that respect.
- It got transplanted late 2018 into a wooden box I slapped together. I sprayed what soil out of the roots I could with a hose, but otherwise didn't do a whole lot to work the clay (which there's still a fair bit of) out. Otherwise I did zero pruning - top or bottom. I filled in the box with a 50/50 mix of garden soil and perlite, with some soil acidifier mixed in.
- Despite all the abuse, it still put on a fair bit of growth and flowering last summer:
Today:
- It's still in the box, which measures about 31 inches square. I haven't checked yet, but I'd say it's a fair bet that the roots have filled out the box.
- I've kept it on the west side of our home, which I'd say is a partial sun to full sun spot (thanks to some trees). Apart from watering it during the heat of summer, I've let mother nature do most of that work for me through the fall/winter (and if that's wrong, please correct me). I've spread a little bit of generic fertilizer (whatever I had on hand) on throughout last summer/fall as well as some more soil acidifier. (Frankly, I've got no idea what I'm doing in this regard. I haven't managed to kill it, so that's something I guess.)
- Since this garden bed is a little more exposed than the last one, I did pile up some mulch around the box/trunk, so there's a bit more to the nebari than in this latest pictures.
- Here's it now:
Looks crap thanks to winter (I'm hoping), no sign of budding yet (though that would be super early).
So as above, our winter has been super mild, so I'm not sure how the timing works given how out of season everything else is looking. What kind of signs do I look for that say it's time to whack this down? I've seen that it's better to do this during a growing season rather than during dormancy, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on budding.
How risky would it be to cut back the roots at the same time? The box is, in short, a real PITA to move around.
What kind of strategy should I take with the roots? As I said, there's still a fair bit of clay in there. I've picked up some chopsticks and the like to knock some of it out, but I've also read that Azalea feeder roots are pretty fragile. Do I stick with the hose again? Should I reduce the radius by only a certain amount (ie, 50%), or to some relation to the height of the plant after the cutback?
I suppose I'll throw this in too - if I'm shopping lowes/home depot/generic garden centers and not bonsai specialty shops, what would you recommend I use to make a soil mix to replant it in? Fertilizer?
Thanks everyone!
I've lurked and poked around enough that I'm confident I know how to manage the trunk chop, but I've seen a lot of mixed information regarding the roots. I'm a beginner, but I know enough to be dangerous.
So, the history:
- I pulled this Azalea from a garden bed before we moved in 2018. It was planted in general garden soil - shallow at that - on top of a clay substrate. Lucked out because the roots were very horizontal - I don't think the root ball is more than 7-8 inches deep. It is super wide, however.
- Up until then, it was treated/trimmed like a bush. Probably standard in that respect.
- It got transplanted late 2018 into a wooden box I slapped together. I sprayed what soil out of the roots I could with a hose, but otherwise didn't do a whole lot to work the clay (which there's still a fair bit of) out. Otherwise I did zero pruning - top or bottom. I filled in the box with a 50/50 mix of garden soil and perlite, with some soil acidifier mixed in.
- Despite all the abuse, it still put on a fair bit of growth and flowering last summer:
Today:
- It's still in the box, which measures about 31 inches square. I haven't checked yet, but I'd say it's a fair bet that the roots have filled out the box.
- I've kept it on the west side of our home, which I'd say is a partial sun to full sun spot (thanks to some trees). Apart from watering it during the heat of summer, I've let mother nature do most of that work for me through the fall/winter (and if that's wrong, please correct me). I've spread a little bit of generic fertilizer (whatever I had on hand) on throughout last summer/fall as well as some more soil acidifier. (Frankly, I've got no idea what I'm doing in this regard. I haven't managed to kill it, so that's something I guess.)
- Since this garden bed is a little more exposed than the last one, I did pile up some mulch around the box/trunk, so there's a bit more to the nebari than in this latest pictures.
- Here's it now:
Looks crap thanks to winter (I'm hoping), no sign of budding yet (though that would be super early).
So as above, our winter has been super mild, so I'm not sure how the timing works given how out of season everything else is looking. What kind of signs do I look for that say it's time to whack this down? I've seen that it's better to do this during a growing season rather than during dormancy, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on budding.
How risky would it be to cut back the roots at the same time? The box is, in short, a real PITA to move around.
What kind of strategy should I take with the roots? As I said, there's still a fair bit of clay in there. I've picked up some chopsticks and the like to knock some of it out, but I've also read that Azalea feeder roots are pretty fragile. Do I stick with the hose again? Should I reduce the radius by only a certain amount (ie, 50%), or to some relation to the height of the plant after the cutback?
I suppose I'll throw this in too - if I'm shopping lowes/home depot/generic garden centers and not bonsai specialty shops, what would you recommend I use to make a soil mix to replant it in? Fertilizer?
Thanks everyone!