Should I move struggling azaleas now or wait until autumn?

[flourella]

I am a novice gardener. Moved into my house a year ago and barely even acknowledged the gardens front and back until April this year, when I suddenly couldn't bear how embarrassingly overgrown my side of the shared border between me and next door was. My dad and I cleared it and planted nine small evergreen shrubs. This was the beginning of May. They all appeared to settle in and do well, with some putting out really obvious new growth and the others getting a bit bigger and bushier in a more subtle way. I was really pleased!

In the last few weeks though I'm becoming a little concerned, about the azaleas in particular. They look downtrodden and tired, with some leaves drooping downwards and turning a reddish-purpley brown. I researched online to see what the problem could be and it seems there are a few possibilities.

We hadn't checked the soil pH before planting, so I bought a testing kit. The bed at large has a pH of 6.5 and around the azaleas (and pierises, which are doing great) is lower (we mixed ericaceous compost in with the soil around these ones) so I don't think that is the issue.

I have a lot of herb robert about and it's very red in colour which I believe can indicate poor soil. Not sure how likely this is to be the culprit as I don't think the compost from their containers and the compost we added around them would be depleted after less than three months (or could it be?).

I also bought a moisture meter probe and was amazed to find that the soil was off-the-scale wet from around 5 inches down, even after several days of hot weather, no rain, and me not watering because Google indicated that this was the most likely reason for their deterioration. Water does not sit on the surface for long and when I dig down it seems to be lovely and moist and exactly what plants might like, but what do I know?!

Another possibility is that they are getting too much sun, and I have noted that the azalea in the worse condition gets shaded for a bit longer in the morning but spends around 3 hours longer in the afternoon sun.

I think I have to move them into pots (back garden has more shady areas due to the fences, but is full of horsetail and I'm not planning to plant anything out there until I've at least tried to get rid of it). I feel like the sooner they are moved the better, but from what I've read this isn't the best time of year for it. I don't want to watch them continue to slowly wilt in the ground until autumn, but perhaps that would be safer than giving them a sharp shock in summer(?).

Does anyone have an opinion on what I should do, and when? I'd be so grateful. I have included a couple of pictures. They are dwarf evergreen azaleas, Kermesina Rose.

Of course I forgot to add the photos before posting. The dried-up brown bits are the flowers. They don't look great but I read that it isn't necessary to pick them off. And I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered!

I wouldnt move anything during the hot weather but i would remove the dead flowers - it will look better. If they were planted in may i wouldnt move them yet - they are only just getting their roots down.

i would leave them and see how they are next year.

I'd take off the dead flowers, as you will also be removing any developing seed heads. You don't want the plant to be using its resources to make seed, so get rid of those and it can concentrate on growing new roots instead. Maybe put a mulch of ericaceous compost around them, as it won't do any harm.

Also, if your soil a few inches down is off the scale wet in a drought like this, it makes me wonder if there is an underground leak from a water pipe somewhere.

@bilbodog I don't know how quickly plants can die, especially if the roots could be sitting in too-moist soil and rotting. Do you think they could last until next year?

@istherereallytimeforallthat I will pick off the dead flowers because that does make sense. Thank you. I'm fairly sure there can't be pipes running from my house or the neighbour's in that area, but that is also an interesting thought. I am checking the soil every day now and the needle on the moisture meter shoots over to, and sometimes past the end of, the blue/wet part of the arc but as I say, the soil just seems slightly moist when I dig down. It still crumbles and just seems to be a really nice texture. The soil at the front of the border dries out at depth much more quickly than that towards the middle (so the back of my half) and it's only a small area. It's weird.

They should last years once they have got their roots down.