What is the best way to prune rhododendrons?
Although rhododendrons come in a wide range of sizes from a few inches high to trees 40-80 feet high, the ones in our yards may have grown way too big or will eventually get that way left unattended, or have just gotten too leggy or sparsely branched. The pruning of rhododendrons is usually not a very serious problem if we haven’t chosen one that will grow out of scale with the rest of the landscape. General pruning of rhodies starts in spring by pinching off the dying blossoms (dead-heading), being careful not to injure the leaves and growth buds directly underneath. This not only cleans up the plant but concentrates the plant’s energy into growth rather than seed production, and encourages greater flower bud set. On the end of a branch that has not flowered, the growth (or vegetative) buds that are there will start to grow. Sometimes there is only a single center bud growing and if this is in an area of the plant that could stand to be more dense, this center shoot can be carefully p
