Growing Your Garden: When and how to prune your azaleas

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — In this Growing Your Garden segment, we are learning all about azaleas! How to take care of and prune them. Kathy Robinson of Robby's Nursery in Bakersfield has some things you need to know.

"If you prune the azaleas at the wrong time you are not going to get any flowers," explained Robinson. "Early spring bloomers need to be pruned in the summer and they set their bud at the end of the summer for next year's bloom, so if you prune them after the 4th of July you're not going to have any flowers."

When you prune an azalea, you want to make sure to do it when it's in full bloom or nearly fully bloomed.

"So when you prune an azalea like this and it is completely finished blooming, you're just going to hedge it and make a nice shape," continued Robinson. "Hedge it lightly the first time, just shape it, so that it is kind of rounded. They don't take a lot of individual pruning."

You also want to make sure you prune to the outside bloom.