When to trim a rhododendron?

Answer 1

Rhododendrons flowers are set in the summer after they flower. You will see the buds on the shrub all winter long. They are just waiting through all the cold and ice to bloom next year. Therefor if you were to prune in the early spring, you would be cutting off all of your flowers that would be to come in the summer. So, the time to prune is just after the flowers die off. Dead head the old blooms being careful not to damage the bud that is coming. This will help to keep your Rhoda healthy and keep the plant's energy from going to seed sending it back into the plant to grow foliage. At this time also clean out any dead wood, just cut it away. On your branches you will see sprouts coming out, if you want to trim a branch, trim just a half inch or so above that bud. I never did this maintenance and so my beautiful Rhoda became lanky and not to attractive. I had to do more major pruning, the consequence of which is that I missed a year of blooms. Sad, too bad I didn't know about maintenance pruning. Souvrae

Souvrae is a gardening enthusiast who only recently discovered the joy in this hobby. Now she is turning her suburban home into a green paradise growing flowers and vegetables. You can follow her blog soon to be up and running. A Blog Named Souvrae.

Answer 2

Prune rhododendron soon after they finish blooming to avoid loosing flowers the following year. They start producing new flower buds for the next year several weeks after they finish blooming. By mid summer most of these buds have been formed. Pruning then may remove all of the buds for the next years flowers.

Answer 3

It depends on the reason, the plant and what you want for an outcome.

Here is one scenario:

Timing is important. It should be done right after flowering season. However, you should trim more off than just the leaves. You need to prune the branches to stimulate new growth. If your plant is overgrown and scraggley you can go down the plant to a foot to four feet up from the ground and saw through the trunks. Eventually, new leaves and branches will begin to sprout from those trunks. About three years ago I did just that to a huge 8-9 foot tall 30 year old rhodie that was about 6 feet across and bare on the inside. It had three or four 3" trunks with some very thick branches coming off them. A nice compact shrub developed from the trunks and now the plant is shorter, stronger and dense. It flowered again after two years.

Answer 4

Only prune if absolutly neccessary.Cut well back you will lose the next years flower. If you have time cut out every second branch and next year cut out the other half.

Answer 5

You can cut it any time you want. The best time is after it flowers cut it hard back but it will be two years before you have flowers again.