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To ensure the best growth and displays from your Rhododendrons

Azaleas and Rhododendrons prefer dappled shade, or shade from the afternoon sun. They all require an acidic soil and should only be fed with a low nitrogen fertilizer. I find that liquid feeding with a product called Maxicrop Seaweed Extract (http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/v3/index.php) works really well.

If your plants get too straggly, they can be pruned ! The best time to do this is just after flowering so that the plants can re-shoot and make flower buds for next year. Rhododendrons do not like being cut back into the old wood as a severe trim will prevent flowering for a couple of years.

Evergreen Azaleas can be pruned into older wood and usually recover straight away. Deciduous Azaleas are very happy to be pruned to within six inches from the ground and make dense bushes the following year. However, with an older plant, just cut out all the older, thicker stems as low as possible.

A regular feed or mulch with leaf mould will give you a great display each year.

Water only when needed.

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Mulch for Rhododendrons and Azaleas

I mentioned in the post above about mulching, so here is a short explanation of what we use on the Heaselands Gardens Estate.

Rhododendrons and Azaleas, being shallow rooted, need a heavy mulch to conserve moisture around the roots and to minimize winter and cold snap damage. Use coarse materials such as pine needles are ideal. If you have access to, or are near a sawmill, wood shavings, wood chips, sawdust and sphagnum peatmoss are also able to be used.

Keep the mulch around the plants for every season, but don't pile it on too high. Rhododendrons and Azaleas are fine with 2 or 3" (5 to 8 cm) depth. Mulching helps to retain moisture during the summer months. In the winter season, it will help to protect the roots ~ especially from bark spilting, fungus and pest damage. It has the additional benefit of providing much needed nutrients too!

Steve, Head Gardener, Heaselands Garden Nursery
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Bark Split On Your Rhododendrons and Azaleas

Bark split
Something I was asked about recently. This is usually caused by either (a) an early frost whilst the sap is still high up in the plant e.g. in Autumn or (b) a late frost when the sap has already started to rise e.g. in the Spring. To avoid this issue, don't feed the Rhododendrons or Azaleas in early Spring or the Autumn months.

Why does it happen? What causes it?
When the sap freezes, it will expand and rupture the plant tissue underneath the bark. (And don't have your mulch too near your plants, as this contains moisture which will expand and freeze, attaching itself to the plants, and ultimately rupturing the bark. You can "cure" it by using some grafting wax but the best solution is avoidance. If left untreated, bark splitting is lethal to your Rhododendrons and Azaleas

Steve, Head Gardener, Heaselands Rhododendron & Azalea Garden Nursery
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Snow Damage and What You Can Do For Your Plant
Now that the snow has finally gone and we have all had time to assess any damage, do not be too hasty to prune damaged or squashed rhododendrons or other shrubs. Many mature specimens have boughs which have twisted under the weight of the snow and have large splits in them. Where possible, lightly trim the ends of these boughs and they will almost certainly turn back into their original positions.

Where more severe pruning is required, reduce the damaged stems/ branches by two thirds and they will, in time, reshoot.

Where plants have tipped to one side and have their roots exposed, trim one side of the plant by two thirds, leaving a taller stem at the back. In time, the pruned stem will re-grow, at which point the taller one can be cut back to match. Stand the plant back up, mulch heavily and keep well watered this summer as some of the roots will be dead.

Steve, Head Gardener, Heaselands Rhododendron & Azalea Garden Nursery
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Preventing Deer Damage

Working as the Head Gardener for the Heasleands Estate, deer are a problem. And I am also hearing about Deer problems if you live near the Royal Parks here in the UK. I have tried various remedies with various degrees of success. The methods we use are
a) Hair
Have a word with your local barber or hair dressers. Put the hair in nets and hang them on the plants or nearby
b) Fencing
This is our prefered solution and we have fencing solutions available for sale. We always build our fences 3 metres high.
c) Silent Roar
This is dried Lion dung which you sprinkle around your plants. Be aware that it does disturn domestic cats too!!

Steve, Head Gardener, Heaselans Garden Nursery
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Yellowing of leaf edges

This usually occurs where the gardens have a sandy soil condition or there is root competition with other plants. Too many plants clustered together will lead to insufficient soil moisture and nutrients to feed the plants.
Two easy solutions are:
(a) fertilising the soil more frequently
(b) removing some plants. Care must be taken not to disturb the roots of the rhododendrons and azaleas.

Steve, Head Gardener, Heaselands Rhododendrons and Azalea Specialist Nursery
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