Pruned azalea questions

I got this azalea a month ago for $10. I know it's not the best material, but it has the largest base and best nebari that I've seen from a big box nursery. I've read, watched, and asked about what I should do with it; I've decided on a hard prune.

Here is a link to the album with all the pictures I took https://imgur.com/a/Gni8s

This is the first time I've ever done this, so I have a few questions. Did I do alright? Should I prune those shoots back, or leave them to get thicker? I was a bit clumsy and scrapped the bark (azalea really do have thin bark), will that wound heal?

You may end up with some of those thin branches as the backbone of your bonsai. Branches (trunks) which are cut back below all the green die as often as not. But that might not be all bad. Just let it be for this entire growing season now.

Thank you for the reply. I will let it grow and see what it does. I've seen other people prune azalea even more than I did, and their trees came back full of growth.

I have cut all the foliage off of azaleas before, right back to bare trunks and had great success with re-shooting.
It's all about the aftercare.

Good luck with your tree

Mike

Thank you Mike. I do hope it will survive and bud out nicely; I'm taking as best care of it as I can.