they don't go very deep or at least the ones in my brothers garden didn't. what are you weeding out Stera?

it is chucking it down here so I'm sewing instead of weeding. :o) rather be outside though.

Shallow rooted Stera.

Thank you. I've neglected that small corner of the lawn so there is a little invading grass which can easily be pulled out but there are also celandines, which admittedly disappear again. The main thing is a perennial geranium which has spread quite a lot but never flowers much and is the reason I haven't done much there for ages.Its taken me a long time to harden my heart and decide it must go.
Maybe the best way of dealing with that would be the dreaded glyphosate when it emerges then - can't think of anything else that wouldn't harm the azalea roots.
What do you think?

The azalea is quite old and has moved house twice but after years of flourishing beautifully its not looking very healthy at present.

Could be that it is reaching the end of its lifespan Stera... they aren't extremely long lived shrubs.

That is bad news indeed Moongrower. Its a beauty when in flower. What is long lived - this is at least 20?

We have one that has been in the garden for over 20 years but it has never been moved which helps the shrub. Just see how it does this coming year Stera is all I can suggest.

Azaleas are very shallow rooted and should be mulched over to conserve moisture. I have an old fashion azalea that's over 50 years old.

You can rejuvenate your azalea by removing all vegetative growth from its root zone, lay down a couple inches of mulch, preferable pine bark or pine needles because azaleas need a slightly acidic environment to thrive - a Ph of 5.5-6.5. Then give it a hard pruning, removing all dead wood and leggy growth. It will grow a healthy new top which will bloom for you the following year.