There is no better show of flowers in a landscape garden in the spring then the azalea shrub. But maybe your azaleas getting a little big for the location or they are getting very leggy.
When To Prune Azaleas? Right after the azalea is finished blooming which will range from spring into early summer for most varieties. If you wait until too late in the growing season, you will be pruning off the next season’s bloom buds and be very disappointed in the next spring’s show.
With a little knowledge of timing when it comes to pruning azaleas you will have a fantastic show of blooms year after year. Let’s break it down so you can optimize the time to trim your azaleas.
When To Prune Evergreen Azaleas
Most azaleas fall into the “evergreen” varieties. While they will not be green necessarily they will hold their leaves throughout the winter months.
With evergreen azaleas you will want to prune them right after the blooms are finished. You do have a little bit of a window of time, but you should try to have them pruned by early summer at the latest.
Azaleas set their bloom buds the season before the actual show. So if you wait too long into the growing season to prune you will be trimming off next season’s bloom buds.
When To Prune Deciduous Azaleas
You want to prune deciduous azaleas at the same time you would be evergreen azaleas, right after they are finished blooming.
The biggest difference between deciduous and evergreen azaleas is that deciduous azaleas are much
I found one resource that recommends not pruning deciduous azaleas as much at a given time but another video didn’t confirm this fact.
So I ask my father who has over 55 years in the landscaping business. He recommended trimming them back in stages and to definitely make sure you are leaving some leaves.
With all that in mind, I would just not prune deciduous azaleas as hard. Rather I would prune every year instead of letting them go for several years at a time.
Pruning Azaleas in the Late Summer
You can prune azaleas in late summer as long as you understand a couple of things.
The azaleas has already set the bloom buds for the next season so you will be trimming next year’s bloom off. As long as you know going into this that it will be 2 years before you have that flower show, go ahead.
The other issue is the potential new growth that will be encouraged with pruning. This new growth may or may not have enough time to harden off for the cold winter temperatures which is really going to depend on how early mother nature brings in the cold to your corner of the world.
Pruning Azaleas in the Fall
Pruning azaleas in the fall is just not recommended at all. The new growth that will be encourage with the trim will not survive the cold winter months which will be a lot of extra stress on the shrub.
This added stress can affect the azaleas shrub as a whole and not just be isolated to the new growth.
And again you will be cutting off the bloom buds for the next spring’s flower show. There might be a few blooms buds that remain, but the show will be small.
Pruning Azaleas in the Winter
If you want to prune your azaleas in the winter try to wait until dead of winter or late winter when the shrub is completely dormant.
You will be cutting off the bloom buds for the season.
Another thought is to just cut a third to half of the plant back to leave some bloom buds for some color in the spring and then right after blooming has stopped remove the rest.
Can Azaleas Be Cut Back To The Ground?
Yes, you can prune azaleas back very hard, but I wouldn’t recommend all the way to the ground. You should leave at least 6 inches or so of the stump for new growth to shoot from.
Rejuvenation or Hard Pruning Azaleas
Azaleas tend to respond very well when they are pruned back hard or what others might call “rejuvenation” pruning.
Hard pruning is when you cut the azalea plant down to within 6 to 12 inches from the ground. During the growing season the shrub will generate new stems off the stubs that are left.
You can never go wrong with doing the hard pruning in late winter into early spring, but you will be removing most the flowering buds for the season.
I would be more likely to wait until right after the flower show and then remove the leggy or old growth. This will be personal preference.
When to Prune Azaleas Based on Zones
Azaleas grow in many different areas around the world from Oregon to Georgia and Florida to New Zealand and Australia. And everywhere in between. Pruning tends to still be at the same time or rather after a specific event.
Azaleas grow in zones 4 through 7 for the most part. Knowing when to prune azaleas is not based on a calendar date as much as specific signs.
No matter which zone you are growing azaleas in, you will want to prune them as soon as the shrub is finished flowering.
So if you spring is unseasonably cooler then it will be later in the spring when they bloom and therefore later in the spring to early summer before you will prune them.
When Should I Prune A Specific Variety of Azalea?
Today we have so many different varieties of azaleas. In fact, there are over 10,000 different types with many hundreds of different species.
There are dwarf azaleas, native azaleas, hybrid azaleas, young azaleas but they all have the same thing in common when it comes to pruning.
It is very simple as to when to prune any of these different azaleas – right after they finish blooming.
Dead, Diseased, or Damaged Azalea Branches
With azaleas you should prune any dead, diseased, damaged stems or branches as they appear. This will speed up the healing process of the shrub which will keep it healthy and strong.
You should especially removed any diseased branches as soon as you notice them.
If you don’t know what the disease is you can contact your local Agricultural Extension Service for advice.
If the whole plant seems to be severing with the same symptom you might be able to spray or treat the plant instead of removing the affected sections.
Related Questions
When is an azalea dead? There are deciduous azaleas as well as evergreen azaleas. If you don’t know which one you have it is best to just scratch one of the branches to see if it looks greenish and wet. If so then the azalea is still alive. If the branches look shriveled and when you do the scratch test it look dry then you will need to replace the plant.
When to fertilize azaleas? The best time to fertilize is right after they are finished blooming. Use a good azalea food fertilizer that you can purchase at most home improvement stores, nurseries, and garden centers.