Beginner Gardening: Taking on my first ever project, but I'm lost!, 3 by Pfg

Pfg wrote:
I cut my azaleas way back as soon after flowering as possible. They bloom on old wood, so trimming them before flowering or too late in the summer means you cut off the flower buds and lose blooming for a year. You can significantly control shape and size with the pruning, so that may be as close to symmetrical as you're going to get. No two shrubs are going to perform the same way if one is in sun and one is in shade.

Pic 1: The first of 3 Azaleas is blooming. It is completely covering a window. These shrubs are very old, were here when DH first came to the house in 1978. I hadn't pruned them in quite a while so they were huge.

Pic 2: As soon as it went by, I cut it way back, then waited for the other two.

Pic 3: Final shape.

Pic 4: You can get pretty drastic if necessary. This is an Azalea that had been engulfed by a huge vine for years. It still had one branch sticking out with gorgeous blooms on it. You can see the thin dead sticks below and behind the flowering branch. When I removed the overgrown vine, the Azalea was very mishapen, so I cut the whole thing down to about 18." By the end of the summer it had filled in and now is a symmetrical small shrub. I think it probably won't bloom well until next year, but the shrub is saved.