My father, Allen Kittredge, passed away in 1999. Our good friends the Levasseurs gave us a Delaware White azalea plant in his memory. We planted it between our deck and the driveway. About ten years ago we renovated the deck so I dug up the azalea and temporarily planted it in our vegetable garden. Later it was transplanted back with no problems. Last spring, at 21 years old, it’s blooms were just beautiful. But then, this past winter, the snow banks I created with the plow on my truck was just too much for it.
There is a little bit of green growth showing near the base of the stem, so to give it a chance I transplanted it to another out of the way spot to see if it would rejuvenate. In the meantime Patty and I bought a new one and selected a spot to plant it far away from the winter’s snow banks.
The hole in the selected spot was three times the diameter of the pot. The walls of the hole gradually sloped in. After peat moss was mixed into the soil, the hole has deepened so that the soil level in the pot was equal to the surrounding soil surface. The the root ball was scored (scratched) to stimulate new root growth.
As soil was returned to the hole and firmed down, I added a liquid root stimulator to the soil. Once the soil was a bit below the top of the root ball I formed a berm around the plant and added a good soaking of water. To top it off, I added shredded pine bark as a mulch. Now if I am diligent about keeping this plant well watered, and I don’t go completely off the rails with my snow plow this coming winter, this plant should last us a lifetime.
New Hampshire Gardening 