On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:36:12 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sun, 31 May 2009 21:00:54 +0200, bob wrote:

On Sun, 31 May 2009 19:43:01 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sun, 31 May 2009 17:48:04 +0200, bob wrote:

This was the first rhodie to flower in my garden - finished about 3
weeks ago and now has a lot of new leaf.

Would a significant pruning, right now, mean sacrificing next year's
flowers? Or worse?

How about a moderate pruning?

Unless they've been seriously neglected over the years and got out of
hand, rhodies don't usually require pruning and are probably better
not pruned. But if you're hell-bent on it, they're best pruned in late
winter or early spring, preferably after the risk of severe frost has
passed. Cutting the flower heads for indoor decoration is quite a good
way of doing it, provided you cut with a view to it's future shape.

It's a bit late to hard prune now, as after pruning the dormant buds
in the woody stems have to break and then grow on, before setting
flower buds in late summer or early autumn. You might get away with
light pruning, but with hard pruning I would expect you to lose next
year's flowers. Be aware that hard pruning can sometimes kill a rhody;
some types will take it (e.g. the common purple R. ponticum), but
others may just give up. For light pruning, cut the stems just above a
rosette of leaves if you can, because that's where the new buds tend
to break from.

Ok - thanks for the detail. In the light of that I think I'll sit
this out until next spring.

But this starts to flower in mid-april (it's the first to appear in my
acid patch). So, if I've understood, it would be safest, for the
survival of the plant, to prune just before flowering even though this
will mean sacrificing flowers next year?

Should be OK if you pruned while it was in flower, and enjoy the
flowers indoors.

That couldn't be clearer - much appreciated.

One further question, if you have time. What you would do, if
anything, to militate against a very alkaline mains water supply when
acid-lovers need water after a long dry spell? Unfortunately I
haven't yet got organised enough to have a rain-water butt.

Is there a straightforward additive/antidote to reduce pH?