Show #18/6805. Spending The Day With A World Famous Plant Breeder

What Should We Think About When Planting Azaleas?

When thinking about the natural habitat for an Azalea we typically think about a lot of humus in the soil. If we're going to plant an Encore Azalea at our home what kind of soil conditions should we be looking at, more specifically what do we need to be thinking about when planting it? Make sure that the soil is well drained. They have shallow roots, they're a very fibrous root system and they grow just below the surface of the soil. Don't plant them too deep because if you sink those shallow fibrous roots into the soil you just kind of stifle them. They may overcome that over time, but you just don't want to be stressing your plants out, it can kill them. Also, if they're buried too deep, you need to make sure you don't mulch them too deeply because that kind of creates the same atmosphere. Eric likes to plant Azaleas high, leave a couple inches out of the ground and then pull the mulch up to it. Because those roots need a lot of air to succeed. Two or three inches above the grade, then just pile it up.