Sharp Garden Tips

Hello again from the garden. Today, we're going to talk about the proper care and pruning of your rhododendron plants. Today as we film this, it's May 11 in middle Tennessee. We've had a cool spring, so our rhododendrons have been a bit slow in starting to bloom.

This little bloom head right here just a few days ago was a tight little bulb very similar to our bulbs of new foliage growth that are coming out. Had we pruned at that point, we would have cut off our blooms and would have had no blossoms this year. This is the importance of pruning after the blooms have finished.

As the new growth comes on, you can start to see what shape you are going to get from your new growth. At that point, the blooms die out. Cut those back--you can get rid of those. You can cut off any irregular growth. All you want to do is lightly shape your rhododendron. Take out any dead wood, of course. Prune it lightly--get it into the shape that you want it to appear. Do this before the heat of summer and the fall comes on, so you won't lose any of your blooms which will appear next spring.

I invite you to also go to our page on GardenVoice.com which will tell you more about rhododendron pruning and care. When Should I Cut Back My Rhododendrons?