Rhododendrons: Getting Rhododendrons ready for the winter.

I am doing my fall gardening this weekend and am going to mulch my rhododendrons. Before I do that, I need to know if I should give them some rhododendron fertilizer? or do I wait until spring for that? Also, would 3" of rotted bark mulch be okay? The weather report says it will get down to freezing tonight in the Fraser Valley.
Thanks again for all your help.

 

i wouldn't fertilize now - wait until spring.

for mulch, i use crushed leaves and put in about 6 inches worth (packed lightly so some air still manages to get through).

the bark mulch is okay (i use similar during the summer). make sure to leave a couple inches free around the base of the bush, though.

 

Hi Joclyn,
Thank you for your help. Okie dokie, I will wait until spring. Today, I put some rotted bark mulch each of them (4) Regarding the crush leaves... I don't have any but my neighbor has a huge rhododendron and all his leaves blew into a corner in my driveway. Could I gather those up and use them? I was actually going to sweep them all up and throw them away. What is a good way to crush them up? I don't have a lawn mower crusher. Thanks again for all your help.

 

oh, definitely use whatever leaves happen to be handy!! i just use my hands to crush them up a bit - no need to have uniformly sized pieces, so a bit of scrunching is all that's needed!