Rhododendron apparent winter damage

Hi Everyone, first post on here.   I'll kick it off with a question about what I believe to be winter damage from a rather tough winter in Northern NJ.   I planted two rhododendrons last year in an area rather exposed to the winds.  I did wrap them in burlap.  Both have some winter damage (based on the symptoms I see on-line) but one is fairly significant.  There are browning leaves and a bunch of groups of leaves on the outside of the plant that appear dried and wilted.  Leaves in the middle of the plant look pretty healthy.  Many buds are damaged.  Overall, less than half of the plant is damaged.   The weather is changing and I am preparing to nurse this back to health but wanted to ask:  Do these plants typically survive such damage?  Is this common?  Will growth be stunted?  Any insights or remedies would be appreciated!  Thanks.

Welcome to Permies!

I live in Zone 5B and have seen a variety of winter hardiness in rhododendrons depending on variety. Without seeing the plant, and even if I did see it, I'm more of an observe and adjust kind of guy. You might find that the plant recovers without any intervention, or perhaps you will get new shoots out of the ground to replace the damage that is already done. As long as the root ball overwintered, the rest of the plant will be fine.

This being the first year of overwintering, I would say that if the plant survives you don't have anything to worry about. It might need some future pruning, but I'd let it get established before worrying about that.

Thanks Tim!  I'm zone 6.  I'm guessing (hoping) it will recover.