When And How To Prune Encore Azaleas

Rejuvenation pruning is an extreme method most often used to restore older azaleas to health or to greatly reduce the size of Azaleas that have seriously outgrown the space they were intended to fill. This pruning technique involves cutting the branches of the azalea back to short stumps. This is the only way to remove all of the old wood and provide the plant with one hundred percent juvenile wood loaded with leaf buds.

When and if your azaleas require rejuvenation pruning, there are two basic methods for doing so. You can cut the overgrown shrub back in one fell swoop, or spread the pruning out over several seasons.

If you choose the all-at-once approach, cut all the branches back to 6 to 12 inches above ground level in late winter or very early spring, before they would ordinarily flush out with new growth. When using this method, avoid feeding the azalea after pruning. After pruning, the shrub will typically grow a fair amount of new growth in the first year but may not start to produce blooms again until the second year. By the third or fourth year after the rejuvenation pruning the shrub should be of fair size and have a nice, compact shape. From this point on, you can prune it lightly as normal for shaping purposes or to control size.

The more gradual approach to rejuvenation pruning involves spreading the process over a three year period; cutting 1/3 of the stems to within 6-12 inches of the ground at the beginning of each growing season. By the end of this time, all the old wood will be removed and only healthy new growth will remain. When using this method, you can feed as normal after pruning.