How to Prune Overgrown Azaleas

Azaleas are garden shrubs that bloom in a wide variety of colors including purple, pink, white and red. Depending on the variety of azalea bush, it will bloom in the spring or fall. Azaleas can grow from 12 inches to 10 feet in height. Pruning azaleas at the wrong time can leave the shrub vulnerable to disease and reduce the number of blooms it produces. Azaleas that are overgrown should be pruned in mid-March, 3 to 4 weeks before the shrub flowers. Pruning your overgrown azalea will allow the shrub to become fuller and produce more blooms for years to come.

Things You'll Need

• Hand shears
• Pruning loppers or saw
• Rubbing alcohol or bleach

Instructions

1. Remove dead or diseased branches on the outside of the overgrown azalea with a pair of sharp hand pruners. Cut dead branches where the dead branch meets another branch of the azalea.

2. Use the loppers to cut off dead or diseased branches that extend to the stem of the overgrown azalea bush. Trim azalea branches 6 inches into the healthy part of the branch.

3. Clean your hand shears and pruning loppers by sterilizing them with alcohol or 1 1/2 cups of bleach with 2 gallons of water. Sterilizing your pruning tools will prevent the spread of disease to other bushes and trees.

4. Cut back severely overgrown azaleas to 6 to 12 inches in height from the ground. Leave the healthiest branches to encourage new growth when your azalea bush blooms again.

Tips & Warnings

• Hand shears and loppers should be very sharp when pruning an overgrown azalea. Dull shears and loppers will crush and tear the branches and damage the azalea.

• Hand shears are good for pruning branches smaller than 1/2 inch thick.

• Loppers are good for pruning branches 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches thick. Loppers are typically used to prune the inner branches and the top of an overgrown azalea.

• Always disinfect your pruning shears and loppers before cutting a healthy branch or before using them on another tree or bush. Disinfecting your tools will prevent the spread of disease to other trees and bushes in your yard.

References

• University of Georgia: Pruning Ornamental Plants in the Landscape
• Fort Valley State University: Pruning Azaleas
• Azalea Society of America: Growing Azaleas

Resources

• Organic Lawn Care Tips: How to Prune Shrubs
• Garden Guides: Spring Flowering Shrubs
• Azalea Society of America: Azalea Bloom Times