Bought this house in 2017, and we didn't even know we had azalea bushes because the previous owner was apparently mowing over them every year, which we found out from a neighbor. We nurtured them for 9 seasons now with heavy feeding and watering and I can't for the life of me figure out why you would NOT want this.
Extra doggo pics for your enjoyment.
by perhizzle
25 Comments
Some sensible reasons would be an allergy to the plant or the bees they attract, or the plant being an invasive (but I don’t think azaleas are invasive anywhere). My best going theory is, it could be because azaleas are very poisonous. Ingestion of a very small amount could potentially be fatal to your dog. You know your dog and how likely he is to eat leaves or flowers, but I’m just offering working theories for why the previous owner wanted them mowed down
Maybe they didn’t know what they were, or didn’t like them, didn’t want to expend the energy to dig them out, so kept mowing. I always ask myself why people think weed block fabric and stones are a good idea. Different strokes for different folks.
Not me thinking the dog with the stick was the culp…
Anyways the bushes look great!!
You just said you didn’t even know you had azalea bushes. What makes you think the previous owner was any different?
Why make assumptions about someone you don’t know?
The house we bought six years ago was owned by a collector of azaleas/rhododendrons. There were about 20 azaleas, more than 20 years old. Along with three rhododendron and FOUR giant rhododendrons.
I ripped out about five azaleas when I was in my “rip out everything” mode. I wish I hadn’t and I still think about them to this day. My neighbors were appalled and took them from the street to plant at their house, so at least they didn’t go to waste!
Because they didn’t like it or wanted something different.
Even a rose bush, maybe they want yellow roses instead of red roses.
Removing plants in favor of some other plants is okay but I wish they would offer those plants up for others to take first before just trashing it
I’ve met a bunch of folks like this, who detest yard work and wish they could do anything but. A neighbor cut down 50+ yo rhododendron because they thought, “flowers bring bugs”.
My MIL’s idea of gardening is rip it out. The plant/tree makes any kind of a mess? Rip it out. The deer nibble on it (even if it bounces back just fine)? Rip it out. She will prune shrubs at the absolute wrong time of year, and then when they don’t flower the following year, will rip them out. Her ideal yard is a flat, barren wasteland.
This weekend she was complaining about our dawn redwood because she and FIL took it upon themselves to clean up the cones and pollen things that had fallen, and said we should just chainsaw it down. Never mind that we told her to just blow the stuff into the yard and it would get mulched up by the mower. Instead we have 7 bags of yard waste that we have to take somewhere for recycling because our county sucks.
Let the propagation wars begin, let they try to clean those bushes but leave cuttings on the grass, they will loose.
My neighbor mowed down hers for several years simply because she didn’t know what they were and thought they were weeds! It was the 90s so you couldn’t just Google ID things. Once I informed her of what they were she was happy to let them grow!
I’m on the verge of ripping out the 40-year old azaleas in front of my house. I already took out the ones in my backyard. Why, you ask? Backyard- because I have dogs and as 4oclocksundew noted, they are toxic to dogs. The front yard- Because they are non-native and are only pretty for a couple of weeks each year. The only reason I haven’t yet is because I haven’t figured out what flowering native plant to replace them with (preferably something with a longer bloom time). I want my yard to support native insects and pollinators.
Honestly my opinion is azaleas are absolutely stunning when they bloom and ugly as sin the other 50 weeks of the year. This is coming from someone with about 30 absolutely massive 8 foot tall azaleas. Lol. If I loved the flowers just a little less I’d mow them over also.
What an opportunity to establish a beautiful native shade garden with rambling paths!
I don’t like azaleas. They are stunning for 1 week and the rest of the year, just bleh. 🙂
My neighbors mowed over the previous owners’ peonies that came up in the corner of their yard next to mine. The second spring I asked if I could dig them up and those little guys are thriving now!
I agree. My former next door neighbor bought her house from her great aunt’s estate. The great aunt had heritage azaleas and rhododendrons planted on the shady side that were gorgeous. New owner ripped them all out because they were “so much work”. TBH, I can’t imagine too many shrubs that are less work than those two species.
Different strokes for different folks. Some like grass. Others like flowering plants. Some like perennials. Others like annuals. Many like both. The world would be boring if we all liked the same things.
Maybe they had dogs and didn’t want them to be poisoned….
While I theoretically believe in the rights of people to make choices like this, I can’t help judging them 😂😂😂
They look gorgeous
I planted flowers, bushes and trees where there was nothing, paid for it myself. Some of the other residents in the block of flats got infuriated, so they got a tractor and tore it all down.
I removed some ugly generic small trees the previous homeowners planted in front of the house. I planted a flowering firebush instead with two leopard plants and it already looks so much nicer. We also got a hibiscus tree to put on the side too
I was with dread going through the pictures expecting to see these beauties destroyed. So glad you recovered them.
We had all our azalea bushes pulled out. They didn’t always flower every year and when they don’t flower during the rest of the year they are really just an ugly looking plant.
Azaleas are extremely toxic to dogs, just so you know
Sadly I had to eliminate any plant that is toxic to dogs and cats, as my animals are very nibbly and will definitely poison themselves.