Trunk chopping azalea

[Mellow Mullet]

This is how I handle Kurume

Repot (if needed) in Feb/March. It has usually flowered by then.
Remove spent flowers/ seed pods after flowering and thin out the canopy. Removing anything that doesn't add to the design and trimming tridents (three branches at a split) back to forks (just two).
Trim the new flush of spring growth to shape, usually happens in April
Continue pruning for shape until the end of June/ first of July.
Leave alone until October, unless it puts out really long shoots and I prune them off or wire it into place if I can use it.
In January, I can see the buds for the flowers, and I will adjust the canopy (shape it up by pruning and wiring) so it will look good when it blooms.

You may have to adjust your timing due to your climate (I think your spring is a lot later than mine).

I usually put a handful of osmocoat on them in the spring, and fertilize with Miracle grow for acid loving plants monthly - all year long. If I get a touch of chlorosis, I will throw in a spoonful of Ironite. I don't use kanuma, akadama, or any other kind of magical soil from Japan, just a mixture of lava, pumice or DE (whichever one I can get), and pine or fir bark; 40/40/20 ratio. They seem to like it and grow like weeds. I have never seen anything grow roots like pumice does, especially on azaleas, they love it.

 

[shinmai]

One more thought: if you haven’t already seen them, John Geanangel has several videos on YouTube about azalea chop projects using nursery material. Rhododendron azaleas are almost astonishing in the degree of cutdown they will take and thrive. I have a Gerard’s “Pleasant White” that went from a three foot monster shrub to shohin size and is doing fine. It has two trunks that fused and then separated again.

 

[JudyB]

One more thought: if you haven’t already seen them, John Geanangel has several videos on YouTube about azalea chop projects using nursery material. Rhododendron azaleas are almost astonishing in the degree of cutdown they will take and thrive. I have a Gerard’s “Pleasant White” that went from a three foot monster shrub to shohin size and is doing fine. It has two trunks that fused and then separated again.

And you chopped below foliage?

 

[shinmai]

When I reduced it last summer, after it was done flowering, I cut it down to below where the flower-bearing branches originated. There were still leaves, from buds on the main trunks, which have stayed on through the winter in the greenhouse [at 37 degrees]. After I reduced it, it went into a somewhat oversized pot in straight kanuma. In the process, I cut off three quarters of the nursery pot full of roots, and rinsed as much nursery soil out as I could. As of this evening, it looks like it has the measles—little red bumps on all the trunks and branches.
I have another rhodi azalea, the very first thing I ever worked on, that I cut back the same way but to just branches without foliage, and it has done well. It pushed all kinds of new branches the following summer, got a severe haircut in the fall, and has new, strong foliage and budding going on right now. That’s also a Gerard’s, I think it might be ‘Double Scarlet”, but I’m not positive.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

And you chopped below foliage?

Hi Judy,
Yes, you can chop Azaleas (&Rhodos) down to just stumps, even 2-4 inches plus rootball. They love this and will give you a dozen or more new branches/subtrunks to work with. That is if you want to start again.
John G’s you tube videos show this really well.
Also, I saw a video of a Japanese man pruning an old Satsuki, totally defoliating it ?, and 3 weeks later it had all new leaves etc.
Charles

 

[Lazylightningny]

Yes, I've seen all of John G's videos and have spoken with him through BNut. It's really too bad he's not active here any more.

I would definitely bare root an azalea in the summer, August-ish, but without pruning any foliage. Now is the time to bare root and trunk chop. I just wasnt sure if there was a magical reason to wait until after flowering, but I have been given very good explanations here.

I'll do the work this weekend and post progressions. We've had a cool rainy spring so far so it should have no problems recovering.

 

[Adair M]

We had a beginner bonsai class at the Atlanta bonsai society last weekend. I taught a guy how to do this:

 

[Lazylightningny]

We had a beginner bonsai class at the Atlanta bonsai society last weekend. I taught a guy how to do this:

View attachment 238046

He looks like a happy camper!

 

[Adair M]

He looks like a happy camper!

He was in shock!

 

[Shima]

I love to do this. Shock the neophytes.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

We had a beginner bonsai class at the Atlanta bonsai society last weekend. I taught a guy how to do this:

View attachment 238046

Is it really that easy?
I mean that is like ficus style cut back.
Is it ok not to leave any green on it? Or should you leave some green?

 

[shinmai]

It largely depends on the strength of the base and root mass. If you take something out of a nursery pot, slash the daylights out of the roots, and then cut it all back to a stump, you end up with something very vulnerable to infestation damage and freeze damage. If, on the other hand, it's a solid, sound trunk base with a little history, you can cut the thing back to a primary trunk and some one or two inch secondaries and you will get ridiculous amounts of growth in the following spring. John Geanangel has a whole series on youtube on exactly this topic, buying nursery stock and reducing it radically to get nice shohin material. Whenever I've done it I've left at least a couple of leaves to keep the whole photosynthesis/hormone thing going. That's just instinct, rather than horticulture, but so far it's been working.

 

[Adair M]

It largely depends on the strength of the base and root mass. If you take something out of a nursery pot, slash the daylights out of the roots, and then cut it all back to a stump, you end up with something very vulnerable to infestation damage and freeze damage. If, on the other hand, it's a solid, sound trunk base with a little history, you can cut the thing back to a primary trunk and some one or two inch secondaries and you will get ridiculous amounts of growth in the following spring. John Geanangel has a whole series on youtube on exactly this topic, buying nursery stock and reducing it radically to get nice shohin material. Whenever I've done it I've left at least a couple of leaves to keep the whole photosynthesis/hormone thing going. That's just instinct, rather than horticulture, but so far it's been working.

You can do this kind of thing with an azalea.

Juniper? No.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Is it really that easy?
I mean that is like ficus style cut back.
Is it ok not to leave any green on it? Or should you leave some green?

@Adair M is correct, I've done it. You can do exactly what his photo suggests. I sometimes think leaving a few leaves can cause issues, in that the area with leaves will pop new growth first, and this can lead to a dominance of that area. Where if you completely defoliate the azalea, back budding is pretty uniform through out the entire bush.

It is important that the azalea you do this to is healthy going into the process. Like Adair's photo, a weak, damaged shrub will not respond well.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

@Adair M is correct, I've done it. You can do exactly what his photo suggests. I sometimes think leaving a few leaves can cause issues, in that the area with leaves will pop new growth first, and this can lead to a dominance of that area. Where if you completely defoliate the azalea, back budding is pretty uniform through out the entire bush.

It is important that the azalea you do this to is healthy going into the process. Like Adair's photo, a weak, damaged shrub will not respond well.

That really is good to know.
Thanks

 

[Lazylightningny]

On April 20 of this year I started with this. As you can see, buds have not opened yet.



and ended with this, potted up into a training pot with straight kanuma



And I now have this. Picture as of June 3, so, a week and a half ago. It is even bigger now. I haven't done any pruning yet. As you can see, it's doing quite well.



On the other hand, this azalea was also reduced and chopped on the same day, April 20, but potted up into a pond basket in regular bonsai soil



And got this, taken on June 9. You can see just a wee bit of growth on the branch on the thicker trunk to the left. Yes, the flower was greatly delayed in blooming. I don't know if the difference was in the kanuma, or the cultivar, or some other factor. Both were chopped hard, but only one thrived.



I should probably leave it alone for the rest of the year, so next spring, I'll reduce the root ball some more and pot it up into kanuma.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

On April 20 of this year I started with this. As you can see, buds have not opened yet.

View attachment 247306

and ended with this, potted up into a training pot with straight kanuma

View attachment 247307

And I now have this. Picture as of June 3, so, a week and a half ago. It is even bigger now. I haven't done any pruning yet. As you can see, it's doing quite well.

View attachment 247309

On the other hand, this azalea was also reduced and chopped on the same day, April 20, but potted up into a pond basket in regular bonsai soil

View attachment 247311

And got this, taken on June 9. You can see just a wee bit of growth on the branch on the thicker trunk to the left. Yes, the flower was greatly delayed in blooming. I don't know if the difference was in the kanuma, or the cultivar, or some other factor. Both were chopped hard, but only one thrived.

View attachment 247321

I should probably leave it alone for the rest of the year, so next spring, I'll reduce the root ball some more and pot it up into kanuma.

When you do the radical pruning, and want buds from bare wood you need to remove all the apical growing points. Removing all the leaves is okay, leaving a few leaves is okay but the growing end of every branch has to be cut or that branch, in this case a flower bud, will monopolize resources, because the bud is secreting hormones that suppress dorman buds from sprouting so it can dominate growth.

Now the one that bloomed, has been spending stored sugars on the flower, and not new buds. It may take a while for this one to recover.

Really need to cut all growing ends of branches when doing radical pruning (major chops) where you want back budding, or back budding won't happen.

Potting media - kanuma is good, but not ''magical'' - I think part of the issue is the pond basket, they allow the soil to dry too rapidly. Azalea need moisture, they are a woodland tree, not a rock escarpment tree. If they are found on cliffs it will be near streams and waterfalls. Not out in full sun where they dry out.

 

[Lazylightningny]

When you do the radical pruning, and want buds from bare wood you need to remove all the apical growing points. Removing all the leaves is okay, leaving a few leaves is okay but the growing end of every branch has to be cut or that branch, in this case a flower bud, will monopolize resources, because the bud is secreting hormones that suppress dorman buds from sprouting so it can dominate growth.

Now the one that bloomed, has been spending stored sugars on the flower, and not new buds. It may take a while for this one to recover.

Really need to cut all growing ends of branches when doing radical pruning (major chops) where you want back budding, or back budding won't happen.

Potting media - kanuma is good, but not ''magical'' - I think part of the issue is the pond basket, they allow the soil to dry too rapidly. Azalea need moisture, they are a woodland tree, not a rock escarpment tree. If they are found on cliffs it will be near streams and waterfalls. Not out in full sun where they dry out.

Great advice. Thank you.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

2 months apart on these images, chinzan. I planted a several separate pots out of this $17, 3gal nursery stock

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Hack Yeah!
Nicely done.
My only critique would be to have planted them deeper. I would not have left the trunk perched on a mound of fine roots. I would have removed more of the under side, to get the trunk level, just below the rim of the pot. The fine roots in the mound will dry out and die. Eventually you will be left with a few larger roots, and if they are not in "good position" for exposed root, you will be stuck with a tree that will need ground layering.

Just my opinion. Otherwise a nicely done job.