QUESTION: One of my azaleas died. It had blossomed well this spring but started dying back and got worse over the spring and early summer and finally died altogether. I am wondering how soon I can plant in that area again.ANSWER: It would help to know why your plant died. It sounds like root rot, which occurs often as the result of setting the root ball too deep in the ground. Or perhaps the roots were so bound up, they never grew into the surrounding soil and the plant died of drought.I suggest you wait until autumn to replant that space. You do not, however, have to wait to select and buy your new azalea. Many garden centers have good sales, which means excellent prices on woody plants in midsummer.You will simply have to make sure to water it regularly through the hot and dry weeks ahead. Then you can set it in the garden. Just be sure to untangle roots that have bound themselves around the root ball.Use a trowel along the sides and across the bottom of the root ball to cut these bound roots so they will grow into the soil. Set the plant so that at least one-third to one-half of it is higher than the surrounding ground. Then cover the root ball with a thin layer of good soil. This should protect the plant from soil-borne fungus that thrives in damp areas. Azaleas and rhododendrons are particularly vulnerable to this.Contact Nancy Brachey at The Charlotte Observer, 600 S. Tryon St., P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230.