azaleas

I need to dig up and relocate 12 established azalea bushes, I pruned them last month after they had finished flowering....Is now a suitable time to do this?

Hi jellicoron, not sure where you live, but I am in Scotland Uk, the best time for us to relocete Azalias, Rhododendrons ect, is after flowering, do it when it is the coolest part of the day though as the roots can dry out quite quickly, they dont eally like root disturbance, so you should get as big a rootball as pos, have the new plant holes ready for them and, make it as wide and as deep as you can, put plenty peat and leaf mould into the hole and mix with some soil, it will help keep the soil moist for the summer replant, as they are not really deep rooted plants ( replant to the same deapth as before, you will see the mark on the stem/trunk) IF I have had to relocate them, once I have finished, it helps to lay a fairly heavy stone or two on top of the soil, this will help stabelise the plant and save it from rocking in any wind that may hit them till they get roots down into the new soil, I am not too sure about the pruneing as I have never had to do this other than nip off any small branch tips that have been damaged by deer or frost, the flowers normally come on the wood before the leaves so they might take a couple of years to put on a show of flowers agian, you will know they like a bit of a shaded spot or light shade to do well as they will wilt in full hot sun. it would be a good idea to add some acid plant food to the new hole also at transplant to help them over the rest of the year, you get Rhodi/Azalia plant feeds at most garden centers or plant sales stores, it would have been safer had you had the time to prepare the plants over a longer period to save them some stress, but I am going on the view that you need to do it sooner rather than later. hope this helps you, WeeNel.

Thank you for your response...I am in South Carolina...hot and humid! I guess that should not affect your comment unduly? Jellicoron

Hi Jellicoron, as you have a good bit of heat right now, it would be advised to wait till the weather is a bit cooler, if you CAN wait, right now, dig a slit around the plants to be moved and in that slit, put some new compost, you will have broken some roots and the compost will allow the plants to make some new fine roots, then when the weather is cooler, lift the plants as said before and follow the things I said, If you cant waite, then do as before, but with the heat, you will have to water them a good bit as they will go into a bit of shock at being dug up and re planted, just keep a carefull eye on them as they will suffer from moisture loss once the roots have ben disturbed, Good luck anyway, if you gota move them you gota do it with care, be a shame to loose them. WeeNel.

I also have a question regarding Azaleas, so I'm going to jump right in here - hope you don't mind jellicoron. I purchased a small Azalea in a 4 inch pot about 2 months ago. After it had got accustomed to my garden's microclimate, say about 2 weeks or a little more, I repoted it to a slightly larger pot. It was doing fine for a while, but then we got tons of rain, and it just lost everything - flowers, leaves - it is now a 6 inch high pile of reddish brown sticks, BUT - there are tiny bits of pale green peaking through....look like leaf buds....is there hope for my azalea? What can I do to help her recover?

Nothing you can do for now, it will be doing fine as it has started to re sprout greenery, the best thing for Azalias, is rain water, perhaps not the amout your just had, I suspect as it came in a small pot, it went into a bit of a shock with the sudden change it has gone through, you can buy special Azalia/ Rhododendron food from garden centers etc, it kind of helps keep the soil on the acid side which they like, or repot it into a peat mixture as they are acid soil plants, hope this helps you islandshari, loved the pics of your desert roses these are just wonderfull, your so lucky, Good Luck, WeeNel.

Thanks, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that she survives - don't have access to the specialized food. I keep her on my patio table at the moment and talk to her a bit whenever I'm out there.....little more green today!

Transplanting those things in warm humid conditions is pressing your luck- they usually don't even like growing in those conditions
and they hate wet feet! and need very well drained acid soil....they prefer cooler climates...but can be grown in warmer places with a fair bit of mollycoddling!.....the very best of luck!;)

Thanks Chrissy - guess they are different everywhere. On my recent trip to Pohnpei (an EXTREMELY hot, humid island), we saw azaleas 6 and 7 ft. high and blooming like all get out! Gave me hope that mine might make it here. I always thought they liked it cooler too. I figure these are some kind of hybrid that has adjusted to the conditions....but they sure were beautiful!

People who live in the hot humid southern US are able to grow them too, some species/cultivars are probably better than others for those conditions but there are definitely plenty that'll grow fine. Hot weather is probably not the best time to transplant them though (or any other plant for that matter)

Guess I goofed on that....but out here - it is always hot and humid.....Not much variance at all, except in the wind and rain. So, I really don't have a choice when something needs to be repotted. If I waited it would never get done, so I try to choose an overcast day, and always early morning or very late afternoon. We all have our climate problems, and while others wait for spring....I just wait for a cloud!

Sorry--I've only followed this thread sporadically and saw someone mention transplanting and assumed it had been ripped out of the garden and moved to a new spot. Repotting isn't nearly as stressful since you're not really losing much roots (unless you let the plant get really potbound before you moved it). So probably not a big deal as long as you can keep it out of the sun for a bit afterwards to let it adjust to the new pot.

Gotcha!

My chat was mainly re the digging up of the estabished ones Jellicoron was moving sorry about the confusion....:)

No - my bad - I butted in here. Thanks for all the info, and good luck Jellicoron.

Hi , I'm new to most gardening but azeleas are one thing I know and have 360 of. They border my property. Dig your new holes very large and the day before you intend to move them. fill it with water. move the plants in the late afternoon then water them really well everyday for the first two weeks depending on the temp. here in Mobile it's in the high 80's and 90's . after that they basically take care of them selves. They will look punny for a week are so from the shock but they come back like crazy and they are reallly heat and drought tolerate. good luck . do it before September so they have time to set for the winter and mulch them the first year to protect them from the cold this coming winter.

This message was edited Jun 17, 2007 8:52 PM

Thanks implmrsgrl,
That is usefull to know as we have similar climate here in SC, Although our soil is very sandy.