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Garden azaleas or, as they are called according toThe modern classification of species, rhododendrons is a huge family of flowering shrubs, which can seriously differ from each other in size, color and shape of flowers and even lifestyle.
Numerous varieties and varieties of cultivated rhododendrons can:
- be evergreen and deciduous plants;
- reach a height of 3 meters and rise only 50–60 cm above the ground;
- differ in terms of flowering.
But all these plants have common features. In garden azaleas pretty graceful shoots, covered with light bark and slightly elongated oval leaves. Leaf plates are small, dense, with a noticeable pile. When the time of azalea blooms comes, from late April until almost the middle of summer, flowers with flat or funnel-shaped corollas appear on the tops of the shoots of last year.
Depending on the type and variety, you can enjoy the lush cloud of white, yellow, pink, lilac or purple flowers from three weeks to 2.5 months.
Deciduous varieties of garden azaleas have been successfully grown in Russia before the revolution, and at the beginning of the last century they were actively used for gardening and decorating parks near Moscow and St. Petersburg. Today, the breeding work of botanists around the world has made it possible to easily pick up plants that, with good care, are very winter-hardy and flourish in full bloom, growing in the middle lane.
Garden Azalea Growing Conditions
Garden Azalea is a perennial plant with rather slow growth. This should be taken into account when choosing a place for planting and caring for a young bush. For the first time, azaleas bloom only 3-4 years after planting, growing up and reaching full development.
The ideal temperature for growing garden azaleas in the summer is 20–25 ° C, which is quite acceptable for most areas of the Russian central belt. In winter, many varieties and hybrids can withstand temperatures down to 27–32 ° C.
Still, the plant needs protection and year-round support. When planning planting garden azaleas, you need to be very careful when choosing the right place. In nature, rhododendrons are light-requiring, but when exposed to direct sunlight:
- lose their decorative effect faster;
- worse form flower buds;
- reduce flowering time.
Therefore, it is better for azaleas to find a flat, protected from the wind and flooded with spring waters in the penumbra, where the bush will not suffer from the summer heat, frost and gusts of cold air. For planting shrubs near the house will fit the northern, eastern or western wall.
Rhododendrons grow well in the neighborhood of larger trees. True, it should be borne in mind that the roots of the plants do not interfere with each other. Next to the garden azalea, spruce trees with a core root system, small-leaved limes and oaks feel well.
For azaleas useful neighborhood with garden and park ponds. Here, thanks to the natural humidification of the air, the plant blooms longer, and its foliage keeps fresh.
Planting garden azaleas
The best time for planting or planting garden azaleas is early spring, when the plant did not begin a period of active movement of sap. If for some reason rhododendrons are not planted at the beginning of the growing season, this can be done in September. For the remaining warm days and weeks, the bush will have time to acclimatize and successfully winters.
In azaleas growing in open ground, the surface root system. Therefore, a deep planting pit for shrubs is not required, but preparation of a loose fertile substrate is necessary:
- The depth of the pit may not exceed 50 cm.
- The width should be 20–30 cm greater than the depth.
At the bottom, a powerful drainage layer is made of fragments of red brick, large expanded clay and sand. It is impossible to use limestone crumb, because this mineral gradually changes the acidity of the soil and may cause the withering and death of the already established garden azalea to wither and die.
The ground, removed from the landing pit, is cleared of sod, and then it is added to:
- peat, cleaned from coarse inclusions;
- humus;
- sand and other components necessary to ensure the looseness and structure of the substrate.
Before plunging a seedling into a hole, a small amount of prepared soil is poured onto the drainage layer in the center. On it gently lay the roots of the shrub so that the root neck of the azalea when backfilling necessarily stay above the soil level. The soil around the plant is compacted and moisturized. If the soil is a donkey, it is poured, and the surface is richly mulched on top.
If you have to plant a garden azalea, acquired in a nursery or store, its root system should be revived by dropping it into water or watering abundantly before planting.
Saplings with a closed root system tolerate transplanting more easily, and their roots do not need to be cleaned of the existing soil, but it is worth checking the health of the roots and removing the damaged ones.
Garden azalea care after planting
During their growing season, garden azaleas need plenty of watering. Moisten the soil immediately after drying the surface layer. It is best to irrigate rainwater or separated water. To maintain the increased acidity of the soil, citric or other food acid is added to the irrigation moisture once a month.
On hot days, apart from the flowering time of azaleas, shrubs can be sprayed with warm water to be a good support for decorative shrubs and prevention from pests and fungi.
At the end of the summer, watering is reduced, provoking the completion of the growth of the shrub and improving its preparation for the winter. With the same purpose, they stop feeding supplements, especially if granulated long-acting agents were used for this.
Garden azalea care includes mulching, which is designed to keep the plant roots from drying out in the summer and frost in the winter. Under such a shelter weeds develop worse and slower, moisture is saved. A layer of mulch from pine needles, steamed sawdust or shavings, shredded mowed grass, or even small expanded clay as needed is replenished and restored, but does not cover the root neck of the plant.
It is impossible to maintain flowering shrubs with one irrigation. Therefore, azaleas feed at least three times a year.
- In early spring, the plants are watered with a mullein or humus extract.
- Before the beginning of the flowering time of azaleas, except for nitrogen, the shrub needs equal amounts of potassium and phosphorus.
- After the withering of most of the inflorescences, the plant is watered with a mixture of phosphate and potash fertilizers in a 1: 2 ratio.
Garden azalea plants have a very negative attitude towards fertilizing the soil with chlorine and lime. It is not necessary to use ashes for feeding and popular among gardeners.
Watering and feeding during the care of azaleas is carried out not at the root, but not less than 20 cm from the center of the bush. This technique allows you to bring moisture and nutrients to the most active areas of the surface root system of this garden culture.
Pruning azaleas when grown in the garden.
The plant starts spring with flower buds already formed, so after wintering only sanitary pruning of azaleas is done in the garden when dry and diseased shoots are removed.
Shrub formation is carried out after the flowers wither. During the procedure, both dry peduncles and excessively elongated branches are cut. If the pruning of azaleas for several years does not remove attention, the bush gradually overgrows, the shoots block access of light and air, which leads to the development of diseases and insect pests.
When pruning azaleas, it is important to remember that the buds are laid on annual shoots, so this year’s growth is not affected. After pruning, large hemp is treated with garden pitch.
Young shrubs up to 3 years of age can not be formed, conducting only the removal of dead shoots.
Caring for azaleas in winter
Future bloom depends on caring for azaleas for a year, as well as how the plant overwinter. Some varieties of garden rhododendrons can survive Russian winters without shelters, but to guarantee the health of the shrubs in this case does not work:
- Flower buds are the first to suffer from the cold at the ends of the shoots.
- With a lack of snow, not only young branches sometimes freeze, but also the root system.
In order to protect the plants, winter preparations begin in autumn with abundant watering of the soil under the bushes of garden azaleas. Then the basal circle is covered with an additional layer of mulch, for which pine needles, peat or fallen leaves are taken. A layer of such protection for small plants can be 5–10 cm; under tall bushes they fill up to 30 cm of insulation.
Branches of deciduous varieties growing in the open field of azaleas:
- gently incline to the soil;
- fix wire;
- is covered with corrugated cardboard, special materials or another layer of lapnik or peat.
Covering azaleas with a film or other air-tight materials is not worth it, since there is a high risk of development of rotten and rotted buds and young shoots.
Evergreen azalea plants are covered by a pre-made frame so as not to damage the shoots and future buds. Inside the shelter of the plant should not be constrained. And to warm the construction with roofing material or non-woven materials is necessary only in case of steady cool weather, if this is done on warm days, the next spring will not avoid the loss of some flowers.
The care of azaleas in winter is to protect plants from wind and moisture that condenses during thaws. If the winter is not snowy, the bushes need to be further protected by creating man-made snowdrifts at their base. During the rainy season, azaleas loosely cover the film, leaving the possibility of moisture release.
With the onset of spring, shelter is removed only after the snow cover has melted and positive average daily temperatures have been established.
During the acclimatization and care of azaleas, they are constantly monitored to avoid sunburn of delicate tissues and wilting of the plant lacking nutrition and moisture.
Garden Azaleas - A Thankful Culture. Shrubs always respond with lush flowering and growth in compliance with the agrotechnology of growing azaleas in the garden and competent, regular care. In whatever locality a gardener lives, today you can find many amazing varieties of azaleas that have different colors and different flowering periods.
