spcchap
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Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:35 pm

Azaleas

Hello,

First time poster with no gardening experience.

I have a small (6 x 15') bed in front of my house with about 8 small azalea bushes in it. The azaleas appear to be in poor shape -- by that I mean no abundance of leaves and no blooming.

My guess would be that I need to find a good mulch for the bed as well as some sort of nutrients. I can see evidence of wood chips in the bed that the previous homeowner must have used. Should I rake everything out of the bed, clear the weeds, and put chips back? Or would a dirt-type mulch be preferable?

Also what should I do about watering and feeding the azaleas?

Oh yeah, I live in Georgia (region 7) and the azalea bed pretty much stays in the shade. Thanks in advance!

Sam

opabinia51
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As far as feeding is concerned; if you create a nice, humus rich mulch (aka sheet compost) for your Azaleas, you won't have to feed them. Check out the organic forum for a plethora of advice on how to creat mulches.

But for now, I'll say: Mulch up some leaves, spread them over the bed leaving about an inch of space between the leaves and the plants. Then, cover that with some manure and let it sit.

Kelp meal is a good organic plant food and it is slow release so, sprinkle a bit of that around the base of your plants before doing your sheet compost and they will be happy all year long.

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Grey
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Location: Summerville, GA, Zone 7a

Hi Spcchap I'm also in GA, zone 7a. Nice to have a fellow Georgian!

Azaleas are pretty low-maintenance. They like acidic soil, so you may want to have your soil tested to see what the levels are in it. The wood chips may have been robbing your plants of a little nitrogen too (wood chips = bad stuff for your plants!) so you might want to clear those away.

Prune the bushes after blooming - they bloom on this years' growth so don't cut any later than May or you may be pruining off next spring's flowers.

Shade is fine for azaleas. I've seen them do well even in full shade, but better in dappled shade or morning sun.

Good luck, and welcome!

spcchap
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Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:35 pm

Thanks for the replies! In regards to soil testing: is there a kit I can purchase or do I take a soil sample to a gardening store? Thanks!

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Grey
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Location: Summerville, GA, Zone 7a

You can use a kit from your local garden center, or for most accurate results, take some soil samples to your county extention office.

The Helpful Gardener
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Good advice from Grey 8)

HG



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