Pruning Rhodies & More!

Taunton Press publishes my absolute, all time favorite gardening magazine called Fine Gardening. Full of helpful hints, questions from readers and outstanding articles on all aspects of gardening - I've been known to stop whatever I'm doing, sit down and read it , cover to cover, even the ads! It's made a great gift, too, for family and friends.

Recently, I've been getting their newsletter as an e-mail. 'Ho-hum', another company sending solicitations to buy something, or so I thought. Was I ever wrong! Sure, there are ads to buy a recently published book on gardening and the like, but there is so much more. It's a continuation of what I have loved so much in the print copy of the magazine with the addition of short video clips on a range of subjects - which brings me to the title of this article.

I've been looking at the foundation plantings of Rhododendrons that we planted in front of our house, in the early 80's, when that was pretty much what everybody did. In spite of valiant efforts to keep the growth in check, those plants are trying their best to do what mother nature had programed into their genes and that is to become a 15' shrub. The problem is that they're in front of our dining room windows- on the first floor!! I love the fact that these wonderful plants are evergreen, will grow on the north side of the house and bloom year after year with minimal care but ,I know,too, that it won't be much longer before they win the battle and engulf the entire front of the house!

It just so happens that the last e-newsletter from Fine Gardening Magazine had a marvelous article on pruning Rhododendrons. (Timely, huh!) I've been wanting to take this on for years but pure fear of hacking them to death and being left with a large, naked area in the front of the house, has stopped me. The article first lists the three basic reasons for pruning- removal of dead and diseased wood, shaping and rejuvenation- and goes on to explain what makes this shrub so remarkably forgiving. Go out and take a look at any living Rhododendron branch. See all those bumps. Each one of them can ...  Well, you really should read the article. They do a far better job of explaining it than I can. Check out the video clips,too, one of which is all about making the correct pruning cut. Enjoy!

PS: To find the articles on pruning, click on 'How To' on the tool bar at the top of the page and the 'Articles on Pruning'- 'Pruning Rhododendrons'. Well worth navigating through the pages to read it!