One of my Rhododendron's is appearing quite sickly looking after a very hard winter. It got burried pretty heavily under snow and ice and didn't appear to fare to well.
Half of it is showing no growth at all, while the other side shows some signs of life, but not all that much.
Do I wait it out and see what happens? Do I cut back the entire side that is heavily damaged? Do I just dig it up and say the heck with it???
Winter damage caused to Rhododendrons is quite common in the United Kingdom. Even in the South East of England where I live. There is an easy solution for you for this problem. If the damage is very heavy you may be best to remove the plant and start again. Many people think that these plants are gentle little things that can't survive that well with for example a good clipping back. You can try to vut back the plant to a point on a stem or a branch that is not damaged and immediately above a undamaged set of leaves. Then cut the damaged branch off. Just like you would do with a rose bush after it has finished flowering. The plant will then resprout lots of new growth from the below the cut you made where the good leaves are. Again just the same principle with a rose bush. Couple this with lighly raking around the plant and applying a acid loving fertiliser as these plants are acid lovers. Remember to water the plant well in hot weather as Rhododendrons like to be well watered.
I'm going to give it a shot and see if it revives!!
