Keeping a Rhody in a Container

Question

We are in the process of down-sizing to a smaller condo where I will not have a private yard/garden space. I have a small Nova Zembla rhody that I’d love to take with me. If I plant this rhody in a large container to keep outside on the patio of our new home and prune most of the new growth after it blooms, can I keep the plant compact enough to live in the container forever, or will I just end up killing it?

Answer 1

As long as you provide enough water and nutrients, it should do fine. I would not prune only new growth, but rather selectively remove some older growth each year. This will keep the plant from getting too scraggly.