What happened to the old hedge? It cannot be rejuvenated?

It is very old and is dying. There are large gaps in the branches - where nothing grows anymore. We've been told they need replacing.

Severe, I don't know the age or condition of your existing azaleas, but I can testify to the fact that azaleas are amongst the easiest of shrubs to successfully rejuvenate.

Proper rejuvenation pruning requires cutting a woody shrub all the way back to six inch stumps.....all of the way to the ground. This should be done in late winter, just before the spring warm up. Plants should be mulched well but not fertilized for that first year.

Southern Indica azaleas are the only evergreen azaleas that can be expected to reach the size you are looking for. They require some light shade in order to do their best.

Regular azaleas can bloom in dappled shade during the spring. Some varieties grow 6 feet tall or more. If it's a sunny location, consider Encore azaleas. However, Encore's tallest shrub is only 5 feet tall, but they'll bloom spring, later summer, and fall.

Oh, waow. This is news to me.

Someone here on Houzz once commented on a picture of the front of our house and she suggested these azalea bushes would need to be replaced because they seem scraggly, sparse and old. Since then they've been getting worse and I assumed their time is simply up.

I never tried to cut them down that low and I had no idea they could be revived this way.

I am not sure what variety they are or how old they are but it's at least 10 years, could be much more. They are about 4-5 feet tall and bloom white in Spring only.

The variety is actually quite lovely, we've enjoyed it until it started to get sparse - and I wish I knew the name.

Here are the four bushes in a row, to the right of the front entry stairs, forming a hedge.

To the left of the stairs, I have some gaps. From right to left, there is a camelia (holy in the back), one azalea bush and a fragrant olive tree which I planted in the wrong place and I don't even like that much. It will have to go.

This means that if I am to keep these azalea bushes along the foundation and try to revive them, I will still need one, possibly two more bushes of this kind, to complete the foundation line to the left of the single azalea bush (left of stairs) and form a hedge as on the right.

Would anyone happen to know what variety I have?

I mentioned wanting to replace with a 6 ft tall azalea variety but now that I looked closer, these are about 4-5 feet. I thought I wanted something taller because the ground slopes downwards to the left of the stairs - but if you say reviving is a possibility, I really wouldn't mind trying.

I would appreciate any advice about reviving them, in addition to cutting them all the way to the ground. Can I do this now? If I so, there will obviously be no flowers in the spring.

Any special soil amendment?

Thank you SO much!!

PS: Yes, we probably have bigger fish to fry, such as re-sodding. :)

I've never tried cutting back azaleas and starting fresh. But a 10-year-old azalea is not very old. I have some that are about 25 years old and still going strong. Azaleas like acidic soil. Have your soil tested to see where you stand. They like pine needles as a mulch or anything that feeds them. I add a commercial product called Holly Tone for Azaleas. Check your soil and go from there.

So should I cut them back to 6 inches to the ground?

Sounds like quite the butchering project but if that's what it takes to bring them back lush and bushy, then will do. I wonder how long it will take for them to grow back to normal size. Our foundation will remain uncovered for a while, I guess.

PS: OK, I watched a YouTube video and answered my own questions above.

What is left is to figure out what type of variety I havev so I can buy two more for the left side. What is the best way to find out?

Also, I wonder if I could plant some annuals along the border considering our poor foundation will look harsh and barren for at least a year after I cut them down.

If so, what do you think would work there?

Many thanks!!

Azaleas are slow growers, so you'd have to decide if you can be patient while they grow, or just replace them. If they simply need proper nourishment, proper care could be the route to take. I cut back a small section of one azalea that died. New shoots are appearing, but it will take years for it to fill in.

Hmmm...I don't know. I wonder what people think based on the pictures above, position in front of the foundation, etc. I surely would prefer saving the money associated with replacing them as we have quite a few other renovation projects this summer and any savings would help at this point.

In the meantime, I wonder if I could plant some annuals in the foundation bed that could pretty up the place a bit while azaleas take their time coming back?.

If so, what should those be?

I wouldn't like anything too country/cottage/wild because the house style and the front is rather on the formal side.

I can't really think of anything - I just know this will be one barren foundation when azaleas are cut to the gorund.

I'd cut out any deadwood within the bush and get a soil test done. Just based on the photos, I think they're salvageable, but they must have acidic soil and food. If the soil is good, and you're fertilizing and watering then I'd suspect something else is in play.

I haven't really done much of anything to them. I remember fertilizing them a bit a year or so ago with some of that holy/azalea stuff.

Sometimes, they got pruned/leveled off at the top to create the hedge look. And one uyearear I think I cut off some dead wood within the buibushsh but it left a gap. Not at all pretty.

That's about it.

What is the best way to make the soil more acidic?

I really would like to try the radical rejuvenation...it can't hurt other than forgoing some lush and bloom for a couple of years. I am thinking I could fill in with some annuals in the meantime ...but I could be wrong.

I also wonder what would be the approximate cost to just replace them all? We would have to get our landscape person to do that because I don't think we could dig up those roots.

Between cost of 7 or so azaleas and labor, it would not be insignificant.

"Between cost of 7 or so azaleas and labor, it would not be insignificant."

A few hundred to a thousand dollars......not much more. And that's here on the high labor cost west coast. And you would have immediate results, rather than dealing with the cutback shrubs that will take several seasons to regain their appearance. In either case, you will need to allow time for both to achieve the height you want. Full grown, mature shrubs are rarely ever available for sale :-)

I guess we would have to get a quote from our guy. If it gets close to 1000 we will probably try the rejuvenation. We also have a ton of sodding to do so any DIY is preferred at this point.

Any fun annuals that might go with the cut back shrubs..for a little bit of interim happy :)

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