Since I just spent 2 hours trimming the overgrown azaleas, I thought the revitalized front yard deserved a new picture for the site. Two things to remember when trimming your azaleas - 1) trim soon after they flower or as the flowers are fading (which mine are now) and 2) you can trim up to a third of the azalea off which will prevent them from getting "leggy" and scrawny looking (which mine definitely wore). We planted these shrubs when we did the full front yard overhaul the first summer after we moved in in 2002.
I am bummed that I forgot the before picture for today's trimming, but take my word for it - the front looks so much better now. I think I still need a couple of more small shrubs to fill in some of the major gaps between the existing plantings but I'll work on that in the fall maybe.
