"kc" wrote:

As a new home owner who inherited lots of landscaping with my house, I
didn't know to cut back azealas and rhododendrens when they bloomed this
spring. I've been told if I cut them back now I will "cut off all the
spring blooms", but they are horribly leggy and overgrown and I think I have
no choice or my neighbors may picket me soon...do you think I'll get some
bloom even if I cut back now?

Hi Kristen,

The problem is that the flower buds are already on the plant now. They
started forming around mid summer. If you very carefully prune just the
ends of the longest branches, you will only loose the flowers on the
longest branches. If you go in with a hedge pruner, you will probably
loose most every flower.

For maximum flower production, pinch off faded flowers or the developing
seed capsules that follow [ deadheading ]. Pruning is seldom needed
except for removal of faded flowers, but if it is needed, branches may
be trimmed immediately after flowering. Prune in the spring after the
bloom has faded and before mid-summer. Rhododendrons start to form the
next years flower buds in mid summer and by fall the buds are fairly
well developed. Pruning after mid summer removes the next years flower
buds. Rhododendron and azaleas may be pruned after the flowers have
faded to induce new growth. Prune out dead, diseased or damaged
branches, and in cases where plants have become scraggly, start cutting
the oldest branches back to encourage growth in younger branches.
Pruning in the fall is not recommended since it will remove the buds for
next years flowers.

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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman