How to Transplant & Prune Heritage Azaleas

Move the gift azalea outside in mid-spring when the ground warms and thaws and before the azalea awakes from its winter dormancy with new growth. This dormant transplant reduces plant stress, while the warm temperature gives the azalea a gentle start.

Find the right spot for your azalea. These plants require partial or filtered sun, quick year-round drainage, good air movement and protection. A quick-draining planting site against a wall, where the plant gets morning sun and afternoon shade, is ideal. Give the shrub 3 to 4 feet of space for growing.

Prepare a 3-foot-square planting site before you start the process. Dig into the top 12 inches of soil to loosen it, and incorporate 5 to 6 inches of organic compost or fir bark to ensure drainage and nutrition. Azaleas are acid-loving plants and do best with rich, hearty organic nutrition.

Turn the azalea's pot on its side, and tap it firmly to loosen the soil. Grasp the azalea at its base to pull it gently from the pot, and brush away excess potting soil. Plant the azalea in a hole deep and wide enough for its root ball to maintain the same planting depth and to avoid shock.

Water the azalea with 1/3 gallon of water to settle the soil around its roots, and spread 2 inches of organic mulch over the amended soil. Mulch keeps the soil moist and warm and restricts weed growth.

Prune the azalea immediately while the plant is dormant to shape the bush and to encourage new growth. This pruning may eliminate some of the year's blooms but will encourage better lifetime shaping. Cut off lower branches that don't get sun and any dead or diseased wood. Cut longer branches back to the length of the shorter branches. Make each cut just above a leaflet, growing node or lateral branch.