Hello, azaleaman. Sorry to hear about your plant. Below are some possibilities and things to think about.

If you stick a finger into the soil to a depth of 4", does it feel dry? Carefully check near the root ball first, which may have dried out (for whatever reason). That would be my "test" if trying to determine if the plant is getting enough water. Also, keep in mind that, as the plant matures and increases in size, it needs more water. If the root ball feels dry, determine why that area is not getting water. You may need to add a slow water drip to force it to absorb water.

Another suggestion... do you suffer from borers where you live? If you do, they might have taken a liking to your plant's roots.

Have you had any gardening projects done near the plant? Their roots are very tiny and can be harmed by people steping on them or moving heavy objects by the azalea.

When was the last time that you made a soil test?

Luis

PS - Why in the world is your gardener pruning the plant monthly? My azaleas do not grow thaaaat much.

Thanks for the response, Luis. The root ball seems to be damp and I have other azaleas near this one and they're doing fine. I assume the borers would be munching on all of them?

What about cutting it back? How far and what's the chances that a pretty much "dried out" plant could come back?

Thanks,

Ray

Good question; hard to tell though. "Come back" would depend on just how dry the plant got when the soil dried out. I always wish I had a soil moisture sensor as good as azalea plants are. Because their tiny fibrous roots are so close to the top of the soil, they dry out quicker than almost anything... faster than most plants show signs of lack of water.

At some point, the plants reach a threshold after which the azalea will not recover from and, unfortunately, neither of us can tell if the plant reached that point when it dried out.

However, what you could do is prune selected stems off the main stem to see if it still alive. Prune each of those stems at 1" or 2" intervals until you reach the main stem or until you see green. I usually test prune using stems at varying heights and at -think of a clock now- 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions off the main stem. Since your plant is old and large, take your time checking as many stems as you feel are appropriate.

If none of those stems has green then go for the main stem itself. Continue pruning at 1-2" intervals until you either hit the bottom or until you get green.

Due to the age of your plant, the main stem will be thick so use appropriate cutting tools (do not use a machete to test prune). The tool -for example, an anvil lopper- should be of a type that can cut a main stem as thick as your plant's. If you reach bottom pruning the main stem then the plant needs to be replaced.

If you do find green, maintain TLC, mulch (4 inches) protect the wound, spray some fungicide and wait for new growth. Do not apply excess fertilizer during these stressful times and maximize the amount of sunshine that the plant gets (4 hours or less of morning sun or dappled sun).

When test pruning like this, cut anywhere you want. Azaleas have hidden dormant growth buds scattered along all of their stems.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Unfortunately, I did the test cutting and I got all the way down to the ground and never saw any green. Poor little tree was all dried out. It had a real good run at almost 48 years old and it will be missed as the focal point at Easter time.

Thanks and take care.