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Rhododendrons benefit from leaf mulch?

Rhododendrons are problematic for me for two reasons:
• They do not like our arid climate here
• They have a very shallow root system
The latter gets them into conflict with the equally flat rooting ground covers, which I employ
throughout the yard as weed control. Accordingly they get treated by me rather step-motherly.
If they survive, - okay, if not, there are other, more suitable, plants to replace them.

This morning I noticed something, which may be of help to rhodo growers in other more humid
northerly regions. They certainly appear to be hardy enough, since they grow wild in a nearby
mountain park (Manning Park), with an hardiness of 3 or less, though huge loads of snow
in the region may help protect them.

Thus it was with some surprise, that I noticed the following:

In this photo you see three rhodos. The one to the left and the little one to the lower right have
their leaves hanging down, as they typically do here in winter, but the one in front of the B-shelter,
with the benefit of some of the leaf mulch around it,looks outright perky by comparison.

Olaf

Re: Rhododendrons benefit from leaf mulch?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olafhenny (Post 238616)

That is because they like very acidic soil they grow wild hear being indigenous to Washington you see them most on the Olympic peninsula. They grow under fur pine and cedar trees.

Re: Rhododendrons benefit from leaf mulch?

Sorry, Linda, for the belated reply, but we just arrived back from Vietnam, with a
slew of exigencies to attend to and the WiFi connections in Vietnam were very spotty.

The point I was making in that post is, despite the fact that rhododendron grow wild in
HZ3 or so, they still seem to appreciate having their roots protected in much warmer
regions. I found that interesting, but not particularly helpful for myself, since they just
do not fit into my landscaping preferences.

Yes, they appear to be native to wilderness regions all over the Pacific northwest.

Best,
Olaf