Rhododendron winter damage

[Sweet Pea 0]

I sprayed the Rhody with wilt proof every time the temperature rose.  I pruned it back in February with a warm up of two days, and removed about 18" in height.  I was not able to spray it again before the last March storm.  It was burnished bronze in many areas but did not have crinkled leaves.  I've posted pictures I took today; It used to be a show stopper. Does anyone have any recommendations on what can be done? I plan on fertilizing with Hollytone unless there is a better plan.

 

[Curt P 5]

I would wait to see what leafs out then prune out the dead. Some of the damaged leaves may get pushed off by new ones and the damage won't look so bad.

[Sweet Pea 0]

 Thanks, I will wait it out and see what happens. I was not aware that new leaves actually would come from mature branches. I will let you know how it progresses; It's been a show stopper for several years in my front yard.

 

Sweet Pea

 

[Steven Nikkila 32]

Good advice to wait and see. This year we're worried about damage done during the winter. Last year we had a lot of plants loose their new foliage due to a heavy freeze. That's nature for you, something different every year.

 

The new foliage will come from any leaf buds that survived the cold and sometimes a plant will push leaves out of dormant buds as well. The roots need food, to get food the plant needs leaves, thus the plant pushes new growth. If the plant was healthy and growing well it is capable of surviving and getting back to it's normal self. If a plant is stressed and not healthy the plant maybe to weak to push out new growth and survive. The hollytone can't hurt. Please keep us informed on the plants progress, it sure looked like a beauty and still could.

[Sweet Pea 0]

Thanks Steve, and yes it was a beauty. I will keep you informed on the progress, it was healthy; and the soil is phenomenal in that bed,so that gives me more hope.

 

Sweet Pea

[Steven Nikkila 32]

Another tip for winter care: keep the root system moist not wet until the ground freezes. We often forget to water our plants after leaf drop, even the evergreens. The plant is still going through photosynthesis, at a slower rate than during the growing season, and moist roots allows the plants to send moisture to the leaves. Once the root zone freezes the roots aren't able to their part, while the leaves are still sending starches to the roots. The leaves loose moisture and curl up and are more likely to burn/freeze. We try to pour our dogs water dish out on the root zone of some of our evergreens (false cypress), didn't help this year many of our plants burned. We're still waiting for leaf out before doing anything to them.