My husband mowed down the azalea bush. Can it be saved?

8 years ago

The previous owners of this house planted Japanese azaleas just off the front porch, but they did so right next to a bunch of other bushes (I don't know what those other bushes are called, sorry, I just know they're huge). Several azaleas have died from being crowded out by these large bushes. I managed to nurse three of the azaleas that were furthest from the other bushes back to health this spring and two were thriving, while one was very tiny and I wasn't sure I could save it unless I replanted it further away from those bushes.

I didn't get a chance. My husband (not accidentally) mowed over one of the thriving and the tiny one yesterday. The tiny one is gone, but the one that had been thriving has its roots intact and there are 4-inch stems remaining. Will it grow back? Is there anything I can do?

It would mean a lot to me to bring this little guy back if I can.

Featured Answer

akamainegrower

8 years ago

There's a very good chance that it will regrow from the roots and remaing above ground growth. I am restraining myself from inquiring about your husband's seeming hostility toward azaleas, but it's not easy.

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Comments (9)

Stacia
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! I'm hoping it will grow back and already bought some fencing to go around it to "remind" him to not mow over them again. I was very disappointed because between the azaleas being mowed down and some wildflower seeds never sprouting, my front porch area looks really dire. And I put so much work into it, too. Very frustrating.
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I agree with akamainegrower, azaleas are pretty hardy. As for your wildflowers, I don't know your growing conditions, but you might appreciate this list of flowers that are easy to grow from seed. http://www.ezfromseed.org/
tete_a_tete
8 years ago
I also think that your azalea will grow back.

I once mowed over my husband's nandina. I was being stupid and didn't quite realise that the plant meant anything much to my partner. He very nicely said something to me about it and so I have never mown down a plant of his again.
Stacia
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm happy to report little tiny green leaves sprouting from the cut-down azaleas, even the one I thought was obliterated. We seem to be having a mole problem however which is providing a new challenge.

W Brown, thanks for the suggestions! I've given up on wildflowers this year but will be trying again next spring and will check out those seeds.
Diana Diana
8 years ago
That would be such scandal in my house!!!!
detailaddict
5 years ago
This is good to know...for most of the time we've lived in our house my husband has mowed our lawn himself, but in recent months with an upcoming move and his Saturdays needed elsewhere he's had to hire a young man to do it on a weekly basis. After the first or second week I noticed that the one native azalea to survive of 3 I'd planted along the west-facing side of our house had been mowed down to a stump. It was just 12-18" or so in height but it still should have been distinguishable as a wanted shrub and not a weed. The following week it was mowed even lower, and at my insistence my husband has put a wooden stake next to it. For good measure I've added a sign pointing out that this is (or was) an azalea, or what's left of it. As I said we are moving soon so I have less of an investment in its fate, but I did pay for it and it might well have added some appeal to the yard's appearance.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
I find it very difficult how a woody shrub - even a very small woody shrub - could be mistaken as something that needed to be mown down while mowing the lawn!! Unless it was planted in the middle of the lawn.......

Either the one responsible for mowing needs to be educated on the difference between turf grasses and shrubs. Or instructed to keep the mower restricted to just the lawn grass and out of planting beds. And if the shrub was plunked down in the middle of a grassy area rather than in a dedicated planting bed (always the preferred approach) then you should remove the grass all the way around the base of the plant at a reasonable distance - 12-18" - and then mulch the exposed soil.
detailaddict
5 years ago
It isn't planted in a designated "bed", but it is just a couple of feet from the house. In any case it seems he could have asked before just mowing it over. Several years ago a young man we'd never met knocked on our door and offered to cut our grass. As I said my husband typically did this himself but he accepted and we realized later that he'd mowed our hostas, which the last owners had planted just under a railroad-tie ledge next to our back porch. We never saw him again and wouldn't have re-hired him (although the hostas did grow back), but it didn't really surprise us. However we would expect more sense from a "professional".

My husband mowed down the azalea bush. Can it be saved?

akamainegrower

Comments (9)

Stacia
Original Author

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My husband mowed down the azalea bush. Can it be saved?

akamainegrower

Comments (9)

StaciaOriginal Author

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Stacia
Original Author

Stacia
Original Author