The ideal time
The flowering period of the indoor azaleas extends from January to March, while outdoor azaleas bloom in May. Pruning is recommended for indoor plants in spring, as soon as the bushes have faded. If you postpone these care measures too long, remove the newly formed flower bases at the same time. As a result, you have to accept a reduced bloom formation. Specimens growing in the garden are shortened just before the leaves shoot.
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Clean room azaleas
Although light pruning is possible, the pruning of indoor plants is reduced to cleaning out dead shoots. Wilting flowers are clipped off with the finger or cut off with scissors. Separate the shoots about half a centimeter below the base of the flower.
In this way you encourage the development of new flower buds. They prevent the development of rot because the falling petals do not get caught between the leaves. If fruit clusters have developed, you should also remove these in good time. Seed development costs the plant a lot of energy.
Cut free-range azaleas
Regular cuts ensure that the shrubs branch out well in the lower area and develop a bushy shape. It makes sense to cut for the first time immediately after planting. In the following years, we recommend pruning trees that preserve the shape of the azaleas. With increasing age, the crown thickens and the flowering capacity of the ornamental shrubs is reduced, so that rejuvenating pruning measures are recommended.
Basic rules:
- cut with a sharp and clean knife
- make sure the cut is smooth so as not to squeeze the tissue
- Always cut branches above a bud
First cut
Remove all dead twigs and shoots that have brown and infested areas right at the roots. Cross-growing and crossing specimens disturb the overall picture and are allowed to give way. Shorten the entire young plant by a third.
Conservation cut
Regularly break out withered flowers with your finger. After the flowering period, cut individual old shoots so that they are directed to stronger and deeper branches.
Taper cut
The plants tolerate radical cuts well. Reduce all shoots to a final size of 50 to 60 centimeters and spare young shoots. Another thinning takes place in late summer or next spring, after the bushes have newly sprouted.
Tips
Intensive lighting is recommended every three to four years after flowering in early summer, while evergreen garden azaleas are pruned in spring.
particularities
Evergreen species can be cut back into the old wood if the crown develops patchy or one-sided. An intensive intervention has the consequence that the trees sprout strongly.