As a gardening and landscape gardening expert , I can provide you with some guidance on keeping a rhododendron modest . While it is potential to prune rhododendrons to maintain their natural habit , it is not pragmatic to test to keep a tall - growing rhododendron small or low - growing .
Rhododendrons come in a variety of size and growth habit . Some varieties of course remain pocket-sized and compact , while others can reach heights of 15 human foot or more . If you have a tall , tall-growing rhododendron that you need to keep small , it may be more effective to interchange it with a smaller miscellany or a industrial plant with a downcast , mounding growth substance abuse .
Pruning can be good for rhododendrons to maintain their flesh and promote levelheaded growth . However , endeavor to drastically reduce the size of a marvelous rhododendron can be challenging and may result in an unattractive or unhealthy industrial plant .
When snip a rhododendron , it is authoritative to empathise its growth habits and flowering pattern . Rhododendrons typically bloom on older wood , meaning that they set their flower bud in the previous year . Pruning too late in the season or remove too much erstwhile Natalie Wood can lead in a loss of heyday for the next twelvemonth .
To keep a rhododendron small , regular and selective pruning can be done . This demand removing any drained , discredited , or diseased limb , as well as any crossing or rubbing branches . It is important to make clean cut just above a bud or branch collar to promote proper healing .
Additionally , you’re able to selectively cut to shape the rhododendron and encourage a denser , more compact growth habit . This can be done by selectively disregard back retentive offshoot to a bud or lateral ramification that is facing in the trust direction of ontogenesis . This will help redirect the plant ’s vigor and encourage more compact emergence .
It is deserving note that the size of it and growing habit of a rhododendron are for the most part square up by the genetics of the plant . While pruning can serve maintain a desired size and physical body , it can not completely falsify the natural growth wont of the works .
In my personal experience as a gardener , I have found that substitute a magniloquent and leggy rhododendron with a smaller diversity or a plant life with a gloomy , mounding increase drug abuse is often the best result for achieving a desired sizing . This allows for a more harmonious and visually pleasing landscape , as the works naturally fits into its surroundings without the demand for extravagant pruning .
While it is possible to prune rhododendrons to maintain their natural habit , seek to keep a improbable - growing rhododendron belittled or low - originate is not practical . It is often more effective to choose a rhododendron variety that naturally stays small-scale or replace tall diversity with smaller ones to achieve the trust size and growth habit in your garden .
Caroline Bates
