? Rhododendrons Blooming

[2Poodles]

Hi everyone. This is my first post on the Flower & Garden Forum.

My DH and I are having our front yard completely redone in the spring.
We will be having a new septic tank put in, trees cut down, etc.
Last fall we cleared and cut down old bushes and small trees. I had a person from a nursery draw up a landscape design.

We plan on having rhododendrons, holly and mountain laurel as the base shrubs in front of the house. I plan on having two weeping cherry trees also.
I've searched the web for hours and days on how to plant the above shrubs and care involved.

Does anyone know how to get the rhododendrons to bloom? In my neighborhood there seem to be many rhododendron bushes but none ever bloom. Does anyone know the secret to get them to bloom?

We planted four holly bushes on the side of our house in the late summer/early fall and the three female holly bushes all have beautiful berries this winter. I chose the rhododendrons, holly and mountain laureal as I want plants which remain green all year round.

I'll be having lots of other questions coming.

Thanks

Mary & the 2Poodles
(Sebastian & Winslow)

 

[Snowwark]

Welcome, to the F&G forum, Mary!

You've undertaken a big project, and your planning and designing sounds like it should look great!

As far as the rhododendron go, that does sound very strange! I can understand a few that don't bloom, but a neighbourhood thing?

There are a few reasons why rhodos don't bloom, among them, being newly established, in too shady a location, over fertilizing, pruning at the wrong time, etc., etc. Have you spoken with anyone from the nursery about this?

Since you've been doing lots of online research, you may have already checked the following link, but just in case one holds a clue to the rhodo puzzle, take a peek!

~How to grow Rhododendron and Azaleas~ Especially the Common Problems and their Solutions section.

Any other ideas for Mary, Buds?

Mountain Laurel is your State Flower, right? How nice that you've incorporated it in your plans!

 

[2Poodles]

Thank you for the link to the web site.

The area I live in is very, very shady. I think that may be the reason the rhododendrons don't bloom. Our foundation plants will have filtered sun light so hopefully they will bloom.

I wanted to incorporate our state flower the Mountain Laurel into our landscape design. I wish I had a scanner to post before and after pictures.


Mary & the 2Poodles
(Sebastian & Winslow)

 

[marydmjj]

Hmmm, interesting. Aren't rhodies understory plants? Seems like they would bloom with little sun. All of mine are in full to part-sun and bloom every year. Maybe the soil condition isn't right? They love acidic soil. That probably doesn't help much. It's weird that an entire neighborhood of rhodies don't bloom.

 

[Snowwark]

Rhodos do make great underplantings, Mary. Although it varies between varieties, most appreciate morning sun, or filtered, dappled (moving) shade.

There are so many ways to describe shade!!

 

[rosamindy]

Are ALL the rhodies planted as foundation plantings? Did the same landscaper plant them all? Do you use the same lawn care company? The first thing I'd do is a soil pH test...the soil next to a concrete foundation is commonly very alkaline, which is detrimental to rhodies, pieris, kalmia, etc. And, PLEASE don't prune these bushes, unless very overgrown and in need of renovation. Not only does it spoil the natural shape, but they won't bloom if done at the wrong time or too excessively.
When they were planted, were they put in too deep? Rhodies are shallow-rooted, and don't like to be planted deeply, or mulched too heavily...it smothers the roots.
Finally, are they planted under the drip-line of the house? Do they get enough/too much rainfall? Do icicles drop on them in the winter? To avoid many of these problems, make sure the shrubs are planted well beyond the drip-line of the house.
Good luck.

 

[DebºoºS]

First congrats on your new project (how exciting) and welcome to the F&G.
I agree with Rosamindy. Rhodies just need deadheading after they bloom. Because your neighbors are using them as foundation plants they may be trimming them with their other bushes. Rhodies get quite big as well as Mountain Laurel so you wouldn't want to plant either in front of your windows. Mine are huge. They were strategically planted in corners and well away from the foundation, still they block the light to the garage windows.