PRUNING AND TRAINING 59 



PRUNING AND TRAINING 



Rhododendrons grow so close, and their branches are, 

 as a rule, so sturdy, that they do not require to be pruned 

 in the proper sense of the word. It is, however, sometimes 

 desirable that they should be made to assume a particular 

 shape, or kept to some definite height, and then the removal 

 of parts of the branches may be necessary. Few hard- 

 wooded shrubs will bear severe cutting without loss of 

 vigour as Rhododendrons do. Old bushes that have be- 

 come thin at the base, or too large for their position, 

 may be cut down to any height, even to within a foot 

 or two of the ground ; for, however old the wood that 

 is left may be, it soon develops buds which grow into 

 shoots, and in a year or two all evidences of severe 

 cutting disappear. 



The right time of the year for cutting down the plants is 

 February. If the branches that are removed are thick, it is 

 advisable to tar the snags over immediately after cutting ; and 

 should the weather after the operation be dry, the stumps 

 are assisted in the development of buds by a thorough 

 moistening with a syringe once or twice a day. A good 

 mulch of dead leaves or a mixture of leaves and well-rotted 

 manure should be placed about the plants that have been 

 cut down, as it protects the roots near the surface which 

 otherwise would probably suffer as the result of depriving 

 them of the shelter and shade that the tops afforded. 



The position of the flower-heads of nearly all Rhodo- 

 dendrons being terminal on the branches, the development 

 of lateral growths takes place naturally, every flower-head 

 being succeeded by two or three new shoots. Stopping the 

 shoots, therefore, for the purpose of making the plants 



