When you bought that azalea it was thick and full, right? Then three or four years later you see that above that bushy layer of foliage and flowers there are suddenly tall sticks that are bare, with green growth only on the top of those stems. Your azalea is getting thinner and “leggy” and you don’t know what to do in order to make it bushy again.
Unfortunately many think that fertilizer is the answer, and this only make the plant grow larger and higher instead of fuller. What’s a gardener to do? The answer is simple: Snip the new growth as the flower fade. If you cut the new growth in half just as it is growing it will keep the plant fuller and it will still flower next spring.
This is a deciduous called ‘Lollipop’ that has very fragrant flowers in late-June and early July. But it’s got the same new growth spouting above the flowers that other azaleas do so it’s a fine example. See those taller, new stems on the right? If I left those untended they would develop into those tall, leggy stems that shoot eight to ten inches above the fuller part of the shrub. But I am going to snip them off right now, so that not only will they branch out but there is still plenty of time for that new, thicker growth to form flower buds for next year.
This shrub is small enough so that I can make quick work of the job with scissors. You could also use hedge trimmers or a battery operated shearing tool as well.
If your azalea has tall, bare stems that shoot over the bushier growth you can cut those off now. From now on, however, snip that new growth as the shrub is flowering or the blooms are just beginning to fade.
