Take a look at these three key jobs now to ensure your rhododendrons flower this spring (Image: Getty)
Gardeners will be anxiously waiting for their flowers to come into bloom over the next few months, but depending on what you’re growing, the flowers may never come. Rhododendrons are hardy evergreen plants, but a few simple mistakes could be costing you some beautiful flowers this year.
Gardening expert and TikTok creator Ish explained that gardeners may be inadvertently running their chances to develop flowers on their rhododendrons. As the plant begins to flower in April, there are a few key elements you need to consider, or risk no flowers blooming. Ish wrote in the video’s caption: “If you have trouble getting your rhododendron to flower it can be frustrating but also an easy fix.”
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Avoid pruning rhododendrons until after the buds have flowered (Image: Getty)
The gardening expert explained that rhododendrons not flowering is a common issue gardeners may come up against. However, it is easily fixable.
Firstly, you want to take a look at the pruning of the plant. Ish said: “So, what a lot of people do wrong is they prune it too late in the season, and if you do that, you’re cutting away all the buds ready for next year’s growth.
“All the buds start at late autumn, early winter time, ready for this year.”
If you’ve already got buds on your plant, you don’t need to prune it. However, if you’re itching to give the plant a good trim, Ish recommended saving this until after the buds have flowered.
Gardeners should also be checking the soil is ideal for rhododendrons. You want to make sure that the soil is not too dry, even after the winter months have finished.
Ish recommended adding a good layer of mulch or bark on top of the existing soil and water it in. He said: “One thing you really need to take into account here is the acidity of the soil. It likes a good acidic soil, so ericaceous compost is absolutely perfect.
“You can chuck that on top, even pine bark, that on top, and water it down to really boost it.”
When feeding the plant, the gardening expert advised using a fertiliser that contains iron sulfate is the best one to choose. Avoid using a multipurpose feed as they are usually packed with nitrogen.
Too much nitrogen can encourage the flower buds to turn into leaves. Instead, during spring, use a slow-releasing feed, or a feed higher in potassium, such as tomato feed, just before the plant begins to flower.
When positioning your plants in the garden, rhododendrons enjoy a partially shaded area, but they do also enjoy sun. If the rhododendrons are covered by too much shade, they won’t flower.
If you’re new to growing rhododendrons, Gardeners’ World shared its growing guide. Typically the flowers are planted either between March and April, or later in autumn between September and December.
It’s best to prune the plant in March to get ready for the flowering season. You can expect its flowers to bloom between mid-spring and summer, usually April to July.
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