Azaleas and Rhododendrons collected out-of-season

Carl_Bergstrom

Hello, everyone.

A friend of mine is re-landscaping her garden, and she had these three azaleas and three rhododendrons that she wanted to be rid of. The trees range from about 1" to 2" in caliper. I tried to talk her into waiting until at least autumn, but to no avail. She wanted them out [i:a375e94b34]now[/i:a375e94b34] so that she could move forward with the landscaping.

So I went over there this afternoon and reluctantly pulled them out, bagged the rootballs, and brought them back here to my place. I cut the foliage back pretty hard, removed any remaining flower buds, and dropped them into a large raised growing bed that I have in a mostly-shaded part of my back yard. The soil in the growing bed is essentially an enriched (but sadly, too fine) topsoil. I tried to disturb the roots minimally throughout the process.

So here's my question: I'm not really a satsuki person, so I don't know much about what these trees can or cannot tolerate, nor do I know much about best practice with respect to their care, in general. How should I proceed?

I can try to get a few bags of kanuma from Bonsai Northwest at some point this week, and then take them [i:a375e94b34]back out[/i:a375e94b34] of my growing bed, and move them into growing boxes or large flat pots. Or I can just leave them there in the growing bed until proper repotting time next spring, and move them into kanuma then. Which approach would you recommend, given that it's already early summer and the temperatures are actually reaching 70 F even here in Seattle?

And if you do recommend the kanuma route, how much rootwork should I do before putting them into the kanuma? Should I try to remove most of the garden soil? Some of the garden soil? None of the garden soil?

Any other tips, hints, warnings, or suggestions?

Best Regards,
Old Mister.

__________________
In love with trees

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