I have a line of Formosa Azaleas that were planted by the former homeowner
just before I recently bought my house. These azaleas are presently about 3
feet tall on average but I would like them to get up to and stay at about
5 - 6 feet. My question is how do I prune them? They have a number of
leggy shoots that spike up out of the main plant and may go 2' - 3' from the
last "junction" with the only foliage being at the top. I'd like to trim
these shoots back but I don't know if you take them all the way back to the
last junction, all the way back to a leaf or bud (in the few cases where
there is a leaf or bud), or do I just cut the branch back down part way into
the plant leaving a bare stalk but assuming it will flush out from that
point? I've always thought that you cut back to a junction but if I do that
to all these leggy shoots, it seems that the plant will never get bigger as
all the growth is leggy. It seems to make more sense to partially cut back
the leggy stalks and allow them to flush out from that point, which seems to
me will keep the plant fuller. Sorry to be so wordy. Thoughts?