Patty Winter wrote:
In article ,
Phisherman wrote:

You only have two choices:
Prune and lose some next blooms, or
Don't prune and allow the plant to get larger.

That's what I was thinking: maybe prune and lose one year
of blooms, but have a healthier plant the following year.

Personally, it would depend on the location and I'd prefer to leave
it alone (not prune) and mulch the azalea. Azaleas and
rhododendrons
often look just fine in their natural unpruned state.

Most of the azaleas are fine and bushy. One is a bit sparse in
the middle, but full enough on the outside to cover it up. The
rhodies aren't so full, so the bareness of the inside parts
shows quite evidently. Wouldn't that be a case where pruning
might help?

Depends on where you live, it may be too late this year. You should do
the pruning within days of the blooms dying. In my case, I don't
"prune" as such, but grab the limbs where I want to shorten them and
give them a sharp snap and just break them off. I have bushes full of
blooms every year doing it this way.

Tom J