Small azelea snapped off branches :-(

Bought this earlier in the year from morrisons and it's probably grown 2-3 inches (no flowers this year). I've given it a couple of doses of sulphate stuff and it looked happy.
Toddy I noticed OH has caught it moving a ladder and snapped off pretty much all the branches on one side. They all seem to come from one stem like a mini tree if that makes sense.
What shall I do?
A) be patient and leave it be, accepting it's going to look rubbish for a few years.
B) pinch out the other branches and hope it evens out a bit.
C) replant it deeper to encourage some shoots from the rootball.
D) chuck it away.

It's a really pretty orange one so I'm a bit gutted to be honest.

 

Watching this with interest as the same thing happened to one of mine (due to a large clumsy dog trampling over it). I did A and it still looks the same one year on.

 

I'll put a pic up tomorrow. I'm really sad because it had grown so slowly and I was really looking forward to some flowers next spring.

 

You could try gently loosening the roots and tilting it. My daughter did this successfully with a little acer that was trodden on by the dog!

 

I'm thinking to replant it slightly deeper at the correct angle and pinch out the top growth.

 

Oh it doesn't look too bad, a bit uneven but nice and healthy. If it was mine I would also plant it a bit deeper, mulch round it to keep in the moisture and keep it well watered if we should have anymore warm spells. Good luck with it.

Val

 

I'd leave it and it will probably recover. I wouldn't bury it deeper as you may kill it - the stem of the plant should be level with or slightly above the soil level.

 

Plant it against a wall so you only need a one-sided plant?

I doubt it will sprout from low down, to fill the "Missing" side, so other branches will have to generate side shoots to fill the gap, which will take a long-ish time.

If it is planted out (rather than in pot) it should speed up in successive years (but it needs an acid soil, so no good as a solution if yours is alkaline)

 

I feed it with a sprinkle of sulphate of iron which has kept it healthy. Now replanted, what do you think? The main stem is about 1" deeper (at a slight angle) but all the branches are still coming from a part above soil level. I've snipped off all the tips too.

 

I'll be surprised if that is enough, going forwards, unless your soil is at least neutral ... but folk do manage to grow acid-loving plants on the "wrong soil" (@shiney particularly!)

 

Lovely, now just keep your fingers crossed!!

Val