gardening help

[Anonymous]

We have two rhododendron bushes growing on either side of our porch. When we moved to our house, both were flourishing, now the one on the right side is much smaller and does not look as healthy- its leaves are paler than the one on the left. I am trying to figure out what is going on. They both get the same amount of sunlight and water. There was a morning glory vine growing around the unhealthy bush but it did not appear to be taking up much room/nutrients. I did cut some of it away.

Any other things I might consider and how can I help it thrive?

[Anonymous]

Aggressively fight the morning glory and give it some fertilizer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aggressively fight the morning glory and give it some fertilizer.

thank you!

[Anonymous]

The morning glory is no help, but I doubt it is your problem.

How old are your rhodies?

Do you prune them at all? Yellow leaves are not a good sign and should be removed immediately. Now is the time to fertilize, and you should prune immediately after flowering.

If they are pretty old, they may need what is called "rejuvenation pruning." It sounds drastic, but it will restore your shrubs.

Don't be scared. I cut an older, straggly azalea next to my fence back to its stubs, hoping to get rid of it and now, 1.5 years later is huge again and way bushier than before. Oh well!

Read this:

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/three-ways-prune-rhododendrons.aspx

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure how old they are, but assume pretty young as compared to other rhodies in the neighborhood. I am very new at gardening and have not pruned them, but I think I can figure it out. It's going to look a little silly compared the huge flourishing healthy one on the left but c'est la vie.

[Anonymous]

so to review:
I will cut away old morning glory vines, clear out the area around it, fertilize and aggressively prune after it flowers.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

You may also want to test your soil. You can buy a little tester at any hardware or garden store. Rhodies like it very acid, really anything below pH 5.0 will make them unhappy. If your soil tests too alkaline, there are many things you can add to acidify the soil.