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What happened to my Pieris Mountain Fire?

15 years ago

It was looking great, had new outgrowth, and then this. The leaves are crisp.

Is this too much water, not enough, too much sun, or ???

Depending on where you look, full sun is ok, other places say it's not...I was really looking forward to this shrub in my back yard, and I don't know if I should try this again. I didn't amend the soil prior to planting as I should have, but I did water regularly.

{{gwi:271334}}

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
how deep is the mulch ... mulch should be applied to the bed... but pulled back from the plant 6 to 12 inches ....

insert finger into the soil ... is it too wet.. or too dry??? report back

never amend a planting hole ....

what is your soil type???

ken

PS ... you should also remove the mulch from the wood fence.. or you will start to rot the bottom of the fence .... over the years ....
deb2
15 years ago
It looks like phytophera root rot which is a soil fungus. It's very common in rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, mountain laurel and others similar plants. It likes high soil moisture and warm soil temperatures. It looks like it has quickly killed your plant, but in a larger plant, branches will die out while the rest of the plant is healthy, but it just dies a slow death and eventually kills the entire shrub.
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Thank you both for the input. Gardengal, yes I have acidic clay soil and the whole bed is pine needles. Ken, the landscaper recommended and swore they had good luck with pieris in our area ... then ate their words by planting two of them that died and ultimately giving me a free Annabelle hydrangea that I planted myself. But you do see pieris sold regularly at reputable nurseries around here. I had to trim the dead 3-foot stem in the middle as I didn't want to invite disease and it actually spurred new growth. The move probably wasn't advisable, but I went from a 3-foot backrow shrub to an 8-inch shrub that wasn't visible. I don't plan to touch it anymore, I'll let it do it's thing and hope for the best. Thanks again to both of you.
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kimcoco
Original Author
15 years ago
I checked the soil today - it is moist, maybe a little too moist. I could kick myself for not checking the soil before watering..nothing that I had ever gotten into the habit of doing, but it's been so hot lately that I was afraid everything was going to dry out, and so I watered. And, I just mulched the back yard this year, but hadn't in prior years, so I didn't realize or stop to think that maybe the mulch is actually doing what it's supposed to do. Another "duh" moment to add to my gardening list...

Ken, what do you mean by never amend a planting hole? I have been adding peat moss and manure prior to planting things like my azalea this year, and my roses, otherwise our soil is like clay just 8 inches down. Please explain why you said never amend a planting hole. I'm confused, and did I mention that I don't have a green thumb?

I also read conflicting info on the internet about the pieris - some say can tolerate full sun, others say can't, so much info you never know what to believe. I just planted another on the side of my house in the shade (late afternoon sun only). we'll see how that one does.
What do you do about root rot?

p.s. Ken,
I wasn't too concered about the fence and the mulch, but thanks for mentioning it. We were planning on replacing the fence in a few years anyway, so we didn't bother to worry about the soil or mulch level this time around. I actually just planted some boston ivy for the interim to cover the fence.

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