Too early to prune an Azalea?

[angel]

My parents have an Azalea bush that is approx. 10 years or older and my sisters boyfriend went out there and pruned it yesterday. I have heard that they are not supposed to be pruned until Fall and Spring, is this true? My parents have been in a panic, thinking their Azalea is going to die and they have worked so hard with it all of these years.
I am just wanting to know if someone cuts them back too early, is there anything that we can do to prevent anything happening to it?

 

[Pat]

The Azalea is fine. I have cut our Azalea back several times without taking into act the time of the season, just started cutting because the plant needed to be cut back. Our Azaleas are more than 10 years old, they bloom every year with lots of blooms and color.

 

[firelily99]

They are not too fussy because I have done them both in the spring and the fall. They didn't die and re bloomed the following spring.

 

[ACSAPA]

It was pretty presumptuous of your sister's boyfriend to just start cutting plants without permission. I hope your parents reminded him to ask first. That's not cool.
The azalea wasn't his to prune and he doesn't know the plant's history or why your parents were waiting to prune it. It seems inconsiderate to me.

 

[angel]

Inconsiderate is exactly right! I am glad to know that the azalea will survive because this is one of the most beautiful, and full ones that I have seen in a long time, and not to mention that my parents are very proud of it.
Thank you for letting me know!

 

[LouisFerdinand]

An older man asked me a question for his wife. She wanted to know if the large azalea in the front could be pruned. i told her husband that i had already pruned one for a customer. Thus, i did not think it was too early.

 

[Sean Regan]

Azaleas are quite resilient.

Thirty years ago, my wife brought this azalea, home on the bus from a local market in a 4" pot, with all her shopping and managed to split the stem during the journey. We repaired it with sone Sellotape and over the years I layered it several times.
As it was in the "reduced to clear" box, we've no idea of the variety and no one has ever been able to identify it.

I prune them every year after they've flowered, with garden shears, have done for over 20 years. If I didn't, they'd encroach onto the lawn and block the pavement.

I took these photos in June of this year.