Hey guys!

We have so many mature rhodies on our property and they're finally beginning to look sparse with their foliage. They still have splendid flowering, but you can see right through the leaves into the giant, bare trunks. I've searched online for pruning techniques and ways to make a rhododendron denser. There's the rejuvenation pruning where you cut the plant down to like 6 inches or a desired height and wait for new growth to sprout up and form a new bush. Then there's the pinching technique that allows for better branching.

The problem is that my father does not want to cut the bushes (which are like 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide) down because he likes that size. Then, if we were to be doing the pinching, it would take forever for branches to spread into the five foot gaps of nothingness... Plus, that new growth will just be primarily on the outside of the plant; not on the naked trunks.

This spring we noticed that our deciduous azalea was not sprouting any new growth from last year's. We figured that 8 out of its 12 trunks had died over the winter. I was planning on chopping down those "dead" trunks, but kept putting that off because of tests and whatnot for end-of-the-school-year cramming. Last week, I was exuberant to find out that those "dead" trunks had buds sprouting all over the place on the thicker parts of the limbs. I guess that the buds had winter damage, but the limbs in general were still healthy.

My question is this: is it possibly for my tall, mature, bare-trunked rhodies to send out similar unrestrained budding along their trunks if I were to remove the terminal branches, leaves, buds, and anything else that seems to be alive on the outside of the plant? I wouldn't have to do this now. I could wait for the winter, also, when the plants are dormant, since that was when I believe the azaleas were afflicted...

Wow, I was not expecting this post to be so long.... Thanks for enduring to read it and thanks for any responses. :)