Thank you very much. I now know that the job I must do will hurt me alot
more than it hurts the azaleas . . .


"James Nipper" wrote in message
...
The advice below is very good and accurate. I have often cut azaleas from
6
feet down to 2 feet, and never lost a one. They are VERY hardy.

Good Luck !!

--James--

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Right now is the perfect time to prune them. Pruning azaleas is the same
as
all spring flowing shrubs. First get rid of all dead or diseased wood by
cutting it back until you get to healthy wood. Next reduce the number of
shoots starting from the inside. You can reduce it to 4-6, by half, or
whatever you think it needs to look presentable again. After that, some
people give flowering shrubs a flat-top, but I prefer to prune back in
such
a way as to retain the shrub's natural form. After pruning, fertilize
them
a couple of times with Azalea fertilizer before it gets really hot.

Don't worry about pruning them aggressively. You won't kill them. The
worst thing that can happen is you might not get a good flowering next
year,
but this is usually the result of pruning too late. Perennial flowering
shrubs only bloom on new growth. Your goal is to thin them out
aggressively
so they can put on lots of new growth.