Rhododendron has faded: what to do next

When summer passes in the middle, many flowering plants are already fading, flower stalks look dry and untidy, spoil the appearance of the bush and the garden as a whole. This is exactly what happens when the rhododendron has bloomed, what to do next? Below it is described in detail how to properly trim the bushes after flowering and prepare them for winter.

Shrub description

The most flowering varieties of rhododendrons are called azaleas. They can be deciduous and evergreen. The latter are widespread in indoor floriculture and are cultivated in greenhouses. Deciduous azaleas are characterized by high winter hardiness, slow growth, a long growing season, they need soil with an acid reaction of the environment.

What to do with rhododendron after flowering

Many gardeners are interested in how long rhododendrons bloom and whether it is necessary to prune the faded flowers in the azalea and rhododendron in the summer. Flowering of all species short - 2-3 weeks. Pruning of rhododendrons after flowering and during the formation of ovaries is a must if plants are not grown to produce seeds.

How to prune azaleas after flowering

When the faded inflorescences dry out and easily break out with their hands, they begin to manually clean the bush by removing the ovaries. The fact is that if you do not remove them, the plant body begins to intensively direct nutrients to ripening seeds. If there are a lot of them, then this happens at the expense of laying flower buds for next year.

Shorter azalea shoots from the ground

In addition, in the summer after flowering, you can safely trim the long green shoots to increase the degree of branching and bushiness of the plant, bringing its shape to round or conical. The trimming length is from 5 to 20 cm. It is important to feel the sleeping kidneys under the pruning site. This will ensure the formation of new shoots that can give buds next year.

Shortening thin apical shoots

Of the ovaries, young shoots often begin to grow. How to be in this case? It is recommended to pluck young shoots together with the ovaries, as they greatly thicken the bush. If there is a feeling that the bush is not sprawling enough, then the strongest young shoots leave.

How to prune rhododendron after flowering if the bush is old with a lot of branches of 4-5 years of age? In the summer you can safely carry out anti-aging pruning. To do this, thick branches are cut down at the height of the formation of the bush - 30-40 cm. The number of branches is also reduced: for a sprawling bush leave 7-10 branches, for a compact bush - 3-5.

Anti-aging pruning in summer

Trimming Types

To make it more clear how to trim the rhododendron, you need to familiarize yourself with the types of pruning used in the cultivation of this decorative plant.

Start

This is the first pruning in the life of a plant, which is carried out when it is planted in a permanent place. It consists in shortening the branches by 1 / 3-1 / 4 of the length that the plant had in the nursery. It is necessary to concentrate nutrients at the growth points of the bush.

Sanitary

It is carried out after the winter period, and also during the growing season. Damaged, diseased or broken branches are removed. It can be carried out using technology with a full cut of the shoot "on the ring" or shortening it.

Anti-aging

It is carried out in plants aged 15-20 years in order to stimulate the growth of new shoots and the formation of more flowers. It can be carried out in spring, summer after flowering or late autumn before shelter.

Forming pruning and pinching of rhododendrons

The final formation of bushes should be completed in 3-4 years. By this time, the number of branches left during the annual spring pruning and their length should be precisely determined. Growth at the end of summer can be 12-15 cm. The correct formation of the azalea bush is shown in the photo below.

Correct azalea formation

Care after flowering

What must be done with the rhododendron after flowering is to continue caring for the plant according to plan. Rhododendrons and azaleas are moisture-loving crops, in many regions they suffer from soil and atmospheric drought.

In addition to watering, it is necessary to mulch the soil under the bushes and feed them. It is good to use spruce or pine needles and peat as mulch. These organic materials acidify the soil. Under the mulch, the soil does not dry out, you can not irrigate with water, but use only sprinkling.

What to use fertilizer for rhododendrons

Decorative culture does not place high demands on soils, since there are no highly fertile areas in its natural habitat. But it is impossible to leave it without fertilizers. Indicators of the fact that it is time to make top dressing are growth retardation, a decrease in the number of buds, and a pale color of foliage and flowers. If yellow spots appear on the leaves, their surface turns brown, becomes thinner and tears, this indicates a lack of nitrogen and potassium, with redness of the leaf - a lack of phosphorus.

In the spring, for the quality care of rhododendron and the activation of growth processes, ammonium nitrate of 30-40 g per 1 m² of the trunk circle is effective. After flowering and pruning the ovaries give top dressing in the form of mineral fertilizer azofoska in a dose of 20-30 g per 1 m². In August, superphosphate (15-20 g) and chlorine-free potassium fertilizer, potassium sulfate, 15-20 g per 1 m² are required.

Preparing for the winter and shelter for the winter

Rhododendrons are frost-resistant, and the main purpose of arranging a winter shelter is to protect blooming buds from frost in the spring and protect branches that have not yet matured in the fall.

Before shelter, the bushes are trimmed, removing too long and thin shoots. Too sprawling specimens can be slightly pulled together with twine. A wooden or wire frame is installed above the plant, on which a white covering material is pulled. There should be a layer of air under the shelter so that the foliage does not rot and the shoots can pass the final stage of leaf fall. In the spring, often under the shelter young leaves begin to open and buds form.

The opening of the bushes is made when the threat of return frosts passes. This process can be gradual. First, only the top of the plant is opened, and after 7-10 days, the material can be completely removed from the site.

Features of preparing for winter in different regions

In regions, the time for sheltering bushes can vary greatly. It depends on the climatic features of the autumn period. In coastal areas, the autumn period is warm and humid, and the winter is short. Shelter of azaleas in such places can not be practiced. But, if the autumn is long and dry, as, for example, in the south of the Volga region, then without sheltering bushes there is still not enough. Under the shelter, the air humidity will be higher, and the plants will better tolerate the winter. In the temperate climate of the Moscow Region and Western Siberia, rhododendrons do not have enough warm days to complete the growing season and should be covered earlier.

How to save a plant if it dries

It is not uncommon for a container plant to be taken from a nursery in the spring, it blossomed, and then the beloved rhododendron began to dry. After flowering, carried out according to the usual scheme, the plant does not help to cope, and it continues to wither. The reason is that the root system went beyond the lump of earth that was in the container and began to extract nutrients from the soil of the site. The reaction of the environment in the soil of the plot and the container soil does not coincide, and the plant begins to die.

An acidifying solution is easy to prepare by adding 1-2 sachets of citric acid to 1 liter of irrigation water. If a drip irrigation system is installed on the site, then water with phosphoric acid can be regularly supplied to the tubes. This measure will help maintain the pH of the soil solution at the required level of 4.5-5 and will help to clean the drip irrigation system from salt deposits and clogging.

Another reason that the rhododendron dries is the low humidity of the surface air layer. It is necessary to radically change the air humidity in the area in the direction of its increase, we will equip the rya with a reservoir. Rhododendrons respond positively to landing near mini-ponds for a number of reasons:

• surface root system more easily extracts infiltrated water from a reservoir and dissolved nutrients;
• air humidity at an altitude of 1-1.5 m is optimized;
• in the autumn later frosts occur in the area with water bodies.

If the arrangement of sprinkler sprinkling and a reservoir is impossible, the use of hydrogel will help to provide moisture access to the root system of the rhododendron. The granules of the substance are pre-saturated with water with an acidic reaction of the medium and immersed in the depth of distribution of the roots (8-12 cm). This measure is necessary if you need to leave.

Possible errors and their consequences

The following are possible errors when trimming rhododendrons.

• Too late summer pruning. Pruning branches in the second half of summer is fraught with the fact that it is possible to provoke an increased growth of shoots from the buds that the plant laid for next year. In this case, the bush may even bloom before winter. Young shoots do not have time to prepare, grow dense bark and acquire winter hardiness.
• Excessive pruning during the season can lead to the same consequences. On the shoots there are sleeping buds that have been at rest for many years. From excessive pruning, they can wake up, and the bush will quickly begin to age, complete the full cycle of its development with possible death. To avoid the negative consequences and death of the bush, it is necessary to adhere to the rule of moderation in pruning branches.
• In addition, you should try to trim above the kidneys, making accurate cuts. If you cut high above the kidneys, then part of the shoot dies, and the bushes take on an untidy appearance.
• To collect seeds, only strong ovaries are selected. They are left, and around the dried perianth and parts of the flowers are manually removed. If it is necessary to conduct targeted pollination, then gauze bags are put on the flowers to avoid accidental pollination by neighboring bushes. Pollination of flowers is carried out manually with pollen of selected forms. This is a very interesting activity, although the result will have to wait a long time. While a new plant grown from pollinated seed blooms, it takes 4-5 years.