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dying rhodendrons

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2004
by emcd on December 30, 2003 05:25 AM
Hey gang...first time poster...love the site, very informative...need some help...I live in eastern NC and have recently transplanted 2 relatively large (5 or so feet across, 4 feet high) rho's from beside my house (that was in full shade) to another location 20 feet away beside an existing (an otherwise thriving) rho. The problem is that I transplanted them in early summer and they haven't done well...little to no new foliage & obviously no blooms...this winter most of their leaves have fallen off & a lot of dead wood is present...what should I do when? Remove the dead wood & severely trim them back in the spring time or leave them as is & hope for the best...I haven't done a soil pH test or anything but as I noted earlier, the existing rho has done pretty well in the existing spot, with the only noteable difference that the existing rho didn't bloom as often as the ones I transplanted. Help!! Thanks in advance.
by gardengal on December 30, 2003 08:58 PM
First of all, welcome! [wayey] I hope you continue to come back and [gabby] . And here's some info for you to start on...

garden helper moving plants
pruning rhodies

Its from Bill's own info within the garden helper. I'll keep looking for some more info. I'm sure someone else will be along shortly to help us out some more! [wayey]

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Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
by emcd on December 30, 2003 09:47 PM
garden gal...thanks for the info...I had actually used Bill's moving advice to plan the move in the first place so at least I did that right : )
by gardengal on December 30, 2003 10:20 PM
I don't have a rhody myself, but I think that if you do the severe trim back that they might come back. It sounds like they went into shock and giving them a good pruning might ease their pain. I'd follow Bill's suggestions for pruning them. Notice that the last line says to always cut back dead wood, and if that's what you got then maybe that would be best. Maybe Bill will jump in and help us out since he wrote the articles. Oh Bill... [wayey]

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Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
by weezie13 on December 30, 2003 11:00 PM
[wayey] emcd [wayey]
Glad to have you here!!
I'd like to Welcome you to The Garden Helpers Forum..... I personally have never moved large
Rho's before, so I'm not going to give you advise..
Maybe a question or two until some one with a little more experience in moving them comes along.. Bill......... Nikkal, Papito???????? Bob?
I'm sure someone will come through...

Question for you though...???
Did you plant about the same depth as before?
How did you prepare the soil before you moved it?
How have you treated the soil since/?
The Rho's are high acid lovers....Put some acid food on it? Mulched with Pine boughs or needles?

Plus, you must give it time.
All perennials go through 3 things, the first year the SLEEP, the second year the CREEP, and the third year they LEAP!!!!!!!!

I planted some limbs of a I'd have to say 30 ft tree of my grannies, the limbs had grown onto the ground and started rooting there, so I took about 10 and replanted them, I rototilled the dirt a year before and loaded loaf mold (chopped up leaves) the season before and it rendered down... took compost and loaded that on top and more leaves and more compost, let it set over the winter and then transfered the leaves to the pile... and took compost and a bag of top soil and mixed together and placed the limbs just on the top and sort of side dressed it, I'm not sure how to re~plant a whole tree...

But I do know that it seems each year is a different out come with them, depending on what I put on them the year before, the temp's when the buds were forming, to the heat or stress of the summer.... and Rho's remember like the cooler temps of spring and maybe when you moved them in summer, they might have been a bit stressed and may take a bit to get back going again, and
let it have a chance, I think....
Was it hot when you moved it?
Does it still have the same growing conditions are far sun and shade???
Did you keep it watered well??

I'm sure someone with a little bit better knowledge comes through, they can give you some more hints....

Weezie

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by emcd on January 21, 2004 03:07 AM
weezie - thank you for your reply and your advice regarding patience is dead on (I'm an impatient one)...as far as your questions go I did try to match bed depth & width as best as I could and both beds are essentially the same age and composition (NC red clay down at about 12 inches covered with rich loamy topsoil and mulch...the sun/shade mix is a little different with the new bed being exposed to sun more directly and longer during the day however the existing rho in that same spot has done well although not produced as many blooms I assume due to more sun...I have not added any acids to the soil but I know both the rho's & azeleas (that are near the rho's)could both use some acidic additives...any suggestions? Thanks again for your reply...here's to warmer days for us all!!!

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