I have about 9 Azaleas in my backyard. They all look terrible. Actually, two look okay. There is one in a sunny location and based on what I have read, it appears to be heavily infected with lacebug. Several others are infected with lacebug. I can deal with that (sounds like insecticidal soap would work).

My reason for writing is two-fold: None of the Azaleas look great, so I need to know simply how to care for them properly. Even the two that look okay lose their flowers quickly, but they are green, somewhat thick and have new growth. My biggest problem is with a really sick Azalea that is in the same garden spot (shaded) with the two Azaleas that look okay. The two healthy plants are on either side of the sick plant. The middle plant appears to be dying. It is thin, never bloomed and has lots of dead, brown branches. It had a little bit of new growth on its few healthy branches this summer, but overall, it looks horrible. Today, I pruned it and raked all the dead leaves and crud from around the base. To say this plant has been neglected is an understatement. I have never fertilized any of my Azaleas (I have lived in the house 3 years). Today, I treated the sick Azalea with Bayer.

Georgia is experiencing a drought and we are really limited on how often we can water. No doubt they have suffered from this.

I believe it is possible that I have "borers" on the sick plant (since the branches have died).

Okay ... please help me! I am a complete gardening dolt.