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 
