Satsuki Azalea Early Summer Work: Fishtail
The major season of work on Satsuki azalea is after blooming. Remaining flowers are removed. The ovaries are cut off. And the shoots are selected, shortened, and the leaves reduced to 2, a technique known as fishtail.
Let’s take a look at this key azalea maintenance technique.
A Satsuki azalea at the end of bloom cycle in late June. Some flowers are still out, some are finished, and vegetative growth is well underway.
First, take off any remaining flowers.
The ovary has a long, light-colored pistil attached. Cut off at the base.
Next, on the typical branchlet there are several shoots growing from one point. We only want to leave two. (On a thinly-branched azalea you can leave 3 shoots for a year or two.)
First shoot being removed. This one is growing up.
Second shoot removed. Also growing up.
Third shoot cut off (one is hidden by the scissors). This middle shoot is very strong.
Two shoots are now left from the five. Not too strong, not too weak.
Next, cut the shoot tip off, leaving at least two full size leaves.
Extra leaves are cut off, leaving two.
Final shoots with a pair of leaves each. Looks fishy, yes?
The area from the first photo again after flower removal, cutting shoots, and thinning leaves. From this trim, the plant will regrow new shoots over the summer. At their ends will be next year’s flower buds.
In the fall we’ll come back to select which of those should remain. Sound familiar? This 2-step annual technique is a close mirror of Japanese Black Pine. Minus the flowers.
Ideally fishtail is done within the first week or two of July, or whenever flowering is wrapping up. A 2-3 month summer growing season is sufficient to set blooms on the regrowth. Be sure to water and fertilize well through the summer to help set flower buds for next year.
8 Comments
Thank you. Succinct, well illustrated, informative and helpful.
I was going to comment but you said it perfectly, Robert!
Cheers Ayla!
Thanks Robert, glad you found it useful!
Thanks Michael, great timing as my azaleas are ready for this here in Southern Oregon. As a newbie to azaleas I have a couple questions. May I repot at the same time as performing this pruning? I have plenty of shade created in my garden to protect while plants recover. Also, can or should this same technique be applied to other evergreen plants like rhododendron or loropetalum? Thank you, we appreciate you and the wisdom that you so freely share with us.
Sorry, I missed the window in your questions: I don’t recommend repotting azalea at the same time as pruning after flowering. Just a bit stressful on the plant. I have not tried this with other plants, though Rhodies are closely related, so maybe!
As for repotting azaleas, I talked about this in a chapter in Bonsai Heresy—which one I can’t recall off hand but it’s in there!
Cheers-
Have a big question. When starting with small material (skinny azaleas), can we prune before bloom, under the rationale that that energy will be use to grow the tree instead of flowering?
Yes that can work, especially for azaleas which we don’t prune hard in the fall. For most young plants you may want to prune in the fall to make use of the whole growing season. They may beef up faster. But for azaleas, spring is not bad.