Garden Tips - Frequent Plant Questions

Rhododendrons

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Question
I have seen yards with rhododendrons that are shaped perfectly and were obviously pruned and shaped to be full and almost conical in shape. I have 7-8 Rhody's around the border of my yard and they are all "leaning in" towards the open yard. Can I train/tame/prune them and if so how and when is the best time?

Answer
The rhododendrons sound like they're reaching for light; yeah, they're shade plants but just barely. They are happier in full sun than in full shade. You could prune them in spring if you are not worried about losing a year's flowering (if it's really shady you won't get bupkus for flowers anyway). Rhodies do not come back from old wood very well so don't cut back past those last leaves or you may lose the branch.

If they are really looking scrappy, heck with the flowers; flowering takes more out of a plant than anything else it does. If they still have redeeming value and divorce seems imminent if you prune early, rhodies should usually be pruned right after they flower, which gives the flower buds time to form after. Sounds like changing your lighting would be a good idea. I'm not a big fan of cutting trees down, but I'll limb them 20 even 30 feet up, and the extra light that let's in is often the difference between ugly and beautiful for rhodies and azaleas...