After they just finished blooming is the perfect time to cut them back. When you cut the sides back, it would be good to cut back the new growth on the top also to encourage the plants to fill in the bare spots on the sides. When you cut back, new growth that is exposed during the pruning will sunburn. That is normal and looks bad, but the plant will recover. With the larger leaved rhododendrons (elepidotes), you must prune just above growth joints. Each year as the plant starts to grow there is a visible point where the plant started growth. We call this point a growth joint. Prune just above this point, because that is where the dormant growth buds are located. Don't prune between joints, because there are no dormant growth buds in that area. As a plant grows, some of the inside limbs will be shaded out and become weak and die. It is a good idea to remove these, plus other weak limbs that are on the ground or crossing over each other. This provides better air circulation and does not provide a place for insects and diseases to start. Here is a link that might be useful: How to care for rhododendrons

How aggressively you CAN root prune depends on your tree's stored energy level. Heavy root pruning of a weak tree can be damaging or disastrous, while root pruning a healthy tree while it's growing robustly can usually be done with impunity if follow-up care is appropriate. As you know, the best time to work your (tropical ficus) tree hard is early summer. There is a window between Father's Day and Independence Day that in which I do as much repotting of houseplants and tropicals as possible. Root pruning isn't an all or nothing affair. I've been working on the roots of a Taxus (yew) as a bonsai for more than 8 years, trying to reduce a very deep root system to where I can get the tree in a bonsai pot. The top makes a very impressive bonsai already because I've been working on its refinement, but a plastic clothes basket doesn't meld with the tree in harmony as attractive as a discerning eye might demand. The point is, it's often better to consider the viability of the tree and work in stages than to shoot for the moon in one fell swoop. I'd set some time aside to bare root, and I'd keep at it until you accomplished that worthy goal. Future repots will be easier, and leaving the hardened soil only assures a limited tree. Here is something that explains the seeming paradox about why plants need air in the soil. I'm copy/pasting from something I left on another thread, but it should still offer an understanding: Though roots form readily and often seemingly more quickly on many plants propagated in water, the roots produced are quite different from those produced in a soil-like or highly aerated medium (perlite - screened Turface - calcined DE - seed starting mix, e.g.). Physiologically, you will find these roots to be much more brittle than normal roots due to a much higher percentage of aerenchyma (a tissue with a greater percentage of intercellular air spaces than normal parenchyma). Aerenchyma tissue is filled with airy compartments. It usually forms in already rooted plants as a result of highly selective cell death and dissolution in the root cortex in response to hypoxic conditions in the rhizosphere (root zone). There are 2 types of aerenchymous tissue. One type is formed by cell differentiation and subsequent collapse, and the other type is formed by cell separation without collapse ( as in water-rooted plants). In both cases, the long continuous air spaces allow diffusion of oxygen (and probably ethylene) from shoots to roots that would normally be unavailable to plants with roots growing in hypoxic media. In fresh cuttings placed in water, aerenchymous tissue forms due to the same hypoxic conditions w/o cell death & dissolution. Note too, that under hypoxic (airless - low O2 levels) conditions, ethylene is necessary for aerenchyma to form. This parallels the fact that low oxygen concentrations, as found in water rooting, generally stimulate trees (I'm a tree guy) and other plants to produce ethylene. For a long while it was believed that high levels of ethylene stimulate adventitious root formation, but lots of recent research proves the reverse to be true. Under hypoxic conditions, like submergence in water, ethylene actually slows down adventitious root formation and elongation. If you wish to eventually plant your rooted cuttings in soil, it is probably best not to root them in water because of the frequent difficulty in transplanting them to soil. The brittle "water-formed" roots often break during transplant & those that don't break are very poor at water absorption and often die. The effect is equivalent to beginning the cutting process over again with a cutting in which vitality has likely been reduced. If you do a side by side comparison of cuttings rooted in water & cuttings rooted in soil, the cuttings in soil will always (for an extremely high percentage of plants) have a leg up in development on those moved from water to a soil medium for the reasons outlined above. ******************************* You can skip the rooting hormone and fungicide if you want. They're not necessary. I do use a little Superthrive (for its auxin) as a root soak after repotting, though. I've done some experimenting with loose controls in place and while it has proven useless as a 'tonic', it is effective at stimulating root growth and root division. I fill a tub with water and a little Superthrive & fully saturate the soil in the tub immediately after repotting. Securing the plant to the pot so it can't move in relation to the pot fractionalizes the time it takes for the tree to establish in its new digs, too. Al

I rescued one from my grandmother's house. it was old and not looking so good so she wanted it out! M grandfather planted it for her when he built the house 30 years ago! Anyway, I took it home and dug a large hole for it ad planted it.It looked aweful, close to death. I dug the poor thing up again and dug a larger, deeper hole and filled it with 4 bags of humus. I made sure all the dead canes were pulled and watered day and night. I se osmocote to fertilize. It's been 3 years...itbloomed this year on the anniversary of my grandfather's death..he's with me:0))) Here is a link that might be useful: hydrangea pic

The first thing to do - and I do not mean this in any sort of unkind way - is to learn the identity of what you have growing so that they are more definite than just trees and bushes. This would also prevent the inadvertent destruction of something valuable and help guide decisions about placement. As for the rhododendron and azaleas, much is a matter of personal taste. The azaleas especially will respond quickly to even radical pruning and you will lose only a year or two of bloom. They are also one of the few types of shrub that can grow close to a foundation without any worries about invasive roots. For all of them, why not wait a year or so and see how they respond to the increased light brought about by the tree removal. Azaleas and rhododendrons are among the easiest plants to move even when quite large so there is no real reason to do it immediately. If, on the other hand, you have a clear vision of what you want - and this does not seem to be a shady woodland type garden - then remove them. It's your property to do with as you wish.