r/rhododendron

I’m not sure how old this rhodie is but it was here when I moved in 10 years ago. It was very leggy at the time and I gave it a hard spring prune - didn’t know what I was doing but it handled it well!

It still gets lots of blooms in the spring but the leaves are pretty sparse. As you may be able to see, it’s already putting out new growth but will probably lose a lot of leaves, as usual. I added compost around the base last fall but that didn’t seem to change the state.

Any advice on pruning or general care? I have another rhodie closer to the street that does very well with minimal effort.

We purchased this rhododendron last year. It survived the first year (a few of ours others did not). However, it’s not starting to die. At first, there was still green under all the branches. Now, the top portions are starting to brown.

We live in 5B. The plant is along a fence facing west. The plant gets afternoon sun.

Anything to do to save? Should we prune off the dead parts?

I was claiming Rhodie, but now I'm being told maybe Mtn Laurel. Time of year, shape, and texture of leaf (waxy, paddle-shape) makes me think Rhodie, but I'm hearing the flowers are too small (even though the blooming bunch is ball-shaped).

This is an old (40+ year) rhody that's in very good health but is also very overgrown. I started to remove some of the smaller crossing branches to see what's what and before I go further I'd love some feedback on best approaches.

My preference is NOT to chop to the ground, but to take it back to a decent shape this year, see how it develops and prune again next year if needed.

I already miss the Spring. This massive variety of rhododendrons came with our house (plus a bunch of azaleas not pictured). At least one of them was there in the original 1957 photos of the house.

Trying to ID this fella but having trouble doing so.

I’ve gotten this one for free and I’d like to plant it in a ground and prune it somehow hoping to shape it better for the years to come. I know little about those beautiful plants. Any advice is appreciated!

This is a very mature rhododendron (maybe 30+ years) at our house we bought a year ago. It bloomed like crazy, and put out a ton of new growth. In the past week the new growth has developed these brown spots on the top surface., and the leaves are more yellow than the dark green old growth.

Is this fungal disease?
It is sunburn? (they do get west sun, unfortunately)

Do I need to cut off all this new growth (and sacrifice next year’s buds?) it’s about to be very dry here for a few months, and I’m worried how to appropriately water, but not overwater.

Incidentally, the old growth had that silvery surface with the brown dots on the underside, so I suspect it has had lace wings for a while. I included pics of that for comparison.

This is the same lovely from my other post, mid-May with her massive blooms. Any idea what variety it might be? Google suggests “Fastuosum Flore Pleno”

We struck rhododendron gold with our “new” house. There’s at least five well established rhodies, each a different color, and at least five varieties of azaleas (again, all various colors).

My favorite discovery is learning that there are YELLOW rhododendrons!

I just found this subreddit and thought I’d share the joy 🤩

The leaves in some branches are turning brown. The same thing happened to the plant in the 3rd image and the main stem still standing died off o ly a side shoot survived. They get about 8hrs of sunlight, the soil is clay but I mixed in potting soil before transplanting. Because it has been dry and hot I have been watering about three to five times a week.

New plant, a few weeks in the ground. Sun scald on leaves? It avoids sun in the worst part of the day. Thought the leaves would perk up after the rain we’ve had lately

Our house came with a wonderful variety of azaleas and rhododendrons. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are older than me!

I know now’s the time to prune, but they’ve got such sparse leaves I’m afraid to cut them back at all. I’m used to seeing full hedges of azaleas, but these are all pretty skinny. What would you do?

First two pics are the same plant I’m most unsure about, third pic is to share an amazing COLOR 😍

I planted 4 rhododendron plants in my front yard recently (about 3 weeks ago) and I don’t have any blooms but I do have some new green growth on each plant, but I am concerned about how they look and what to do to get them healthy. They are in partial sun, hardiness zone 6a, and soil ph (recently tested) between 6-6.5. I am worried that the one that seems to be struggling might not be getting enough sun but I have always read they like shade. The garden does need some work due to delay from a major injury so the mulch and the finishing of the garden still need to happen.

I have two rosebay rhododendrons in maximum pink and two catawbiense album rhododendrons.

What should I do to improve their appearance and health?

We have canopies of 50+ year old groves on our road. This one is about 20 years old. I transplanted it from the woods as a seedling when we bought our house as a young couple.

Hey guys! I have this very large, very old rhododendron in the back and I'm super concerned about it. Suddenly a week or so ago it started hanging much lower, like a foot or two lower. I checked out around the base today and it looks like it's hollowed out underneath it. I can see daylight coming through in pic 3. It seems pretty extensive and I'm scared there's no hope, but is there anything I can do for it? It's gotta be like 70+ years old and I don't want it to die on my watch lol

Flowers just fell off about 3 weeks ago, but it looks like new buds are already growing. Is it too late to prune?

We got this rhody last summer as a transplant from someone who didn't want it (perks of the hubs being in the landscaping biz). It had a bunch of lush Vinca covering the bottom and i just left it alone because I figured it would be stressed enough and wanted to let it establish in its new home.

Took some time today to rip out all the Vinca and add some mulch (not pictured). Please to find new leaves on some of the lower areas of the plant.

So my question is, should I do a hard prune this year? I pruned most dead pieces in the spring already. Or should I let her do her thing for a few more years and see what happens? Still pretty new to these plants so havent figured it out yet :) any help appreciated

Hi guys, my rhodies didn’t bloom this year for the first time ever in 10 years, all the buds turned to leaves. I guessed I didn’t water them enough. So I kinda worry about next year, do you know whether this is flower buds or leaves.
I already fertilized them with acidic soil and water them probably this year.
Thank you!