Encore Azaleas require very little pruning to retain good form and do not need "dead-heading." If you think your Encore Azalea needs pruning, do so immediately after the Spring flowering for maximum bud set.
You may also prune your Encore Azaleas lightly after each cycle of blooms throughout the season to encourage new growth. With Encore Azaleas, new growth means new buds. New buds means new flowers.
After each light pruning, fertilize lightly with a slow-release organic fertilizer. This will also help to encourage more new growth and more new blooms.
How To Prune Encore Azaleas
Use hand pruners to cut back branches that have outgrown the rest and are spoiling the shape of the plant. Remember to prune after a heavy bloom cycle in spring and after bloom cycle in fall.
Rejuvination Pruning of Old Azaleas
Though Encore Azaleas haven't been around for long, some of the first varieties to come out (now there are over 20) that were planted several years ago, may need rejuvination pruning. If your older azaleas have become spindly or have become overgrown, rejuvination pruning may be necessary.
The correct method for rejuvenation pruning is to cut back to a 6 inch stumps or less. This is the only way to remove all of the old wood and provide the plant with one hundred percent juvenile wood loaded with leaf buds. Azaleas are one of the many plants that respond beautifully to heavy rejuvenation pruning. The best time to perform rejuvination pruning is right before your plants would ordinarily flush out with new growth in the spring, which with many varieties is immediately after they bloom. Do not fertilize the plant after rejuvination pruning.
