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can i improve this shape?


can i improve this shape?

im so pleased that this has flowered ~ first time in six years!! however, as you can see it is very tall and there are no flowers in the centre. is there a way of making this bushier?



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lovely flowers sticki but cant help you with pruning etc

5 Apr, 2011

 

I like that shape ...
so my answer to "Can I improve this shape ?" ..

"NO".... Lol..

5 Apr, 2011

 

ok, thanks both.
should i put something else next to it to fill in the gap?

5 Apr, 2011

 

"YES" .. Lol..

5 Apr, 2011

 

another rhodedendron? i dont want to stop it flowering again.

5 Apr, 2011

 

You have ericaceous soil I think.... ?
could you plant something evergreen which flowers late summer, so you have year round interest ?

5 Apr, 2011

 

i will look out for something ~ it certainly sounds a good idea. thanks.

5 Apr, 2011

 

:o)))

5 Apr, 2011

 

I can`t grow Rhodedendrons in my garden Sticki, yours has lovely flowers. :o)

5 Apr, 2011

 

it does but they are extra special as i have waited for 6 years to see them!! dont know why they decided to flower this year? maybe liked the winter??

5 Apr, 2011

 

Yes, take TT's advice there Sticki! What you can do with some rhodys is take off the lower branches...heighten the crown. but that doesn't make them bushy, just more tree like, and I wouldn't advise it with this one as it looks like it wants to sprawl. Plant a nice something else beside it!

5 Apr, 2011

 

something evergreen that flowers in the summer/autumn ~ any ideas? pieris is good and works in my garden but are there any others?

5 Apr, 2011

 

Ceanothus autumnal blue, but you risk losing it if it gets too cold. And Hebes...same problem.

5 Apr, 2011

 

Autumn flowering Camellia if it's mild enough where you are.....

5 Apr, 2011

 

Check out GoYpedia Evergreen Shrubs ?

5 Apr, 2011

 

thank you both, ceanothis not doing so well here but camellias like it ~ although they like the back garden better for some reason ~ the one at the front has no flowers on!

5 Apr, 2011

 

Elaeagnus flowers in late summer too, but not showy flowers. Evergreen though and nice shiny leaves.

5 Apr, 2011

 

hywel's Cotoneaster cornubia looks lovely, i like the colour.

5 Apr, 2011

 

It looks good to me!

5 Apr, 2011

 

:-)

5 Apr, 2011

 

Oh yes! good idea!

6 Apr, 2011

 

thanks everyone ~ for your comments and helpful advise

6 Apr, 2011

 

Lovely, but sorry i can't help either.

6 Apr, 2011

 

Added to GoYpedia "Pruning" ...
... aka "No Pruning" ... ;o)

6 Apr, 2011

 

What a gorgeous red,Sticki..I love it..:o)

6 Apr, 2011

bjs
Bjs
 

Sticki
There is no reason why you can not prune it after it has finished flowering that allows the new shoots maximum time to grow this year.
However its a gamble weather you spoil the shape,if you take the centre leader out you are releying on it making strong growth from low down.

9 Apr, 2011

 

I agree with Bjs, Sticki. Rhodos have to be tip pruned (pinched) when young to keep them compact..looks like your leader just took off! Beautiful colour..and I understand the excitement of blossom after a long wait. Found this in one of my handbooks...
"The most commonly practiced form of pruning rhododendrons is the annual removal of flower clusters once the flowers have faded. By preventing seed formation, growth of side shoots that result in a fuller, more compact plant is encouraged."
"Old "leggy" rhododendrons may be severely pruned just before new growth starts in the spring. Stems an inch or more in diameter, when cut to within 6 inches of the ground level, will produce new shoots from adventitious buds on the remaining stumps." Francis De Vos, "How to Prune Broadleaved Evergreens",
My cousin has my rhodo to overwinter because we moved...It will soon return to me and I have to find a perfect place...no problem with acid soil...but the winds and the long winter might make it chancy.

9 Apr, 2011

 

many thanks everyone; this plant was in the garden when we moved here; im wondering if because it didnt flower it never got pruned?
i shall have to try to remember to give it a prune before the growth in spring?

11 Apr, 2011

 

Those are the reddest flowers I've seen on a rhododendron (all I see around here is purple and pink) and I think it's very pretty! I had one that looked like that and it is very full now, I didn't do anything to it either. I just remove spent blossoms on mine and when they get older and sometimes too top heavy I have to remove some top branches. Thank you for sharing, it reminds me of Christmas!

4 Sep, 2011

 

It was already in the garden when we came here ~ its a lovely red isnt it! But Im sure it has hardly flowered until this year [been here 6 years]; it must have liked something in last years weather??
i shall go and have a look at it to see if there are any buds forming ~ its been really dry here!

4 Sep, 2011

 

The buds on mine have just formed within the past month, I have two large rhododendrons that have produced flower buds for the first time since I planted them 5 years ago!

6 Sep, 2011

 

Im not sure how old this one is ~ has to be at least 10 at a guess. I went out to look ~ only small buds which I think are new leaves.
Glad yours have the buds on ~ thats great.
The flower bed this one is in slopes quite steeply and I think needs a top up of good soil.

6 Sep, 2011

 

I have two planted on a bit of a steep slope too, try using wood chips a few feet out from the plant and then mulch inside. The wood chips don't wash away as easily as mulch, it has worked great for me!

7 Sep, 2011

 

thats worth knowing ~ thank you ~ just beginning to put some mulch around some plants ~ so i shall get the wood chips for this one.

7 Sep, 2011



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