Trimming Back Rhododendrons. Trim back to just before the stem meets a main trunk or a larger stem. First the ideal time to do undertake rejuvenation pruning is not after flowering that s when you do light pruning but rather early in the spring before the start of the growing season.
When pruning look for a growth bud on the stem that you are wanting to cut. Dead leaves will look yellow or brown and dead branches will be crispy and snap easily. In the second year after the harsh pruning many more branch tips will produce flower trusses and by the third year the shrub should be full and lush producing numerous and widespread flowers all over.
Best time for trimming rhododendrons.
Cutting off these dying sections helps to put the plant s energy back into the parts that are alive and thriving and will also clean up the. Dead leaves will look yellow or brown and dead branches will be crispy and snap easily. You can cut back woody branches into areas where no leaves or lower twigs exist. Also remove dead or diseased parts of the shrub following the branch back to healthy wood and making your cut at that point.