Pruning wild rhododendrons?
 

We have a rhodie, transplanted to our garden from Mt Townsend on the
Olympic Penninsula in Washington.

It has become too leggy for our present setting (These plants normally
grow to 10 - 12 feet or so, with blossoms only on the top third).

We would like to prune it down to two feet and let it start over.

1. Is this advisable?

2. Can we do it now, or should we wait till winter?


Thanks in advance!

Dwight

Pruning wild rhododendrons?
 

On Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:52:00 -0700, Dwight
wrote:

We have a rhodie, transplanted to our garden from Mt Townsend on the
Olympic Penninsula in Washington.

It has become too leggy for our present setting (These plants normally
grow to 10 - 12 feet or so, with blossoms only on the top third).

We would like to prune it down to two feet and let it start over.

1. Is this advisable?

2. Can we do it now, or should we wait till winter?


Thanks in advance!

Dwight

To increase rhododendron bushiness, in spring break off half of each
new growth... then as each flower fades break those off too.
http://www.rhododendron.org/pruning.htm

Pruning wild rhododendrons?
 

On Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:52:00 -0700, Dwight wrote:

We have a rhodie, transplanted to our garden from Mt Townsend on the
Olympic Penninsula in Washington.

It has become too leggy for our present setting (These plants normally
grow to 10 - 12 feet or so, with blossoms only on the top third).

We would like to prune it down to two feet and let it start over.

1. Is this advisable?

2. Can we do it now, or should we wait till winter?


Thanks in advance!

Dwight

Did you have a permit to remove the rhododendron from the Olympic National
Park?

--

Travis in Shoreline Washington

Pruning wild rhododendrons?
 

On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:15:51 -0400, Brooklyn1 wrote:

On Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:52:00 -0700, Dwight
wrote:

We have a rhodie, transplanted to our garden from Mt Townsend on the
Olympic Penninsula in Washington.

It has become too leggy for our present setting (These plants normally
grow to 10 - 12 feet or so, with blossoms only on the top third).

We would like to prune it down to two feet and let it start over.

1. Is this advisable?

2. Can we do it now, or should we wait till winter?


Thanks in advance!

Dwight

To increase rhododendron bushiness, in spring break off half of each new
growth... then as each flower fades break those off too.
http://www.rhododendron.org/pruning.htm

I don't think "breaking off" branches is very good advice to say the least.

--

Travis in Shoreline Washington