When to trim a rhododendron?

Rhododendrons flowers are set in the summer after they flower. You will see the buds on the shrub all winter long. They are just waiting through all the cold and ice to bloom next year. Therefor if you were to prune in the early spring, you would be cutting off all of your flowers that would be to come in the summer. So, the time to prune is just after the flowers die off. Dead head the old blooms being careful not to damage the bud that is coming. This will help to keep your Rhoda healthy and keep the plant's energy from going to seed sending it back into the plant to grow foliage. At this time also clean out any dead wood, just cut it away. On your branches you will see sprouts coming out, if you want to trim a branch, trim just a half inch or so above that bud. I never did this maintenance and so my beautiful Rhoda became lanky and not to attractive. I had to do more major pruning, the consequence of which is that I missed a year of blooms. Sad, too bad I didn't know about maintenance pruning. Souvrae

Souvrae is a gardening enthusiast who only recently discovered the joy in this hobby. Now she is turning her suburban home into a green paradise growing flowers and vegetables. You can follow her blog soon to be up and running. A Blog Named Souvrae.