Which for more shade - pieris or camellia
sara82lee
3 months ago
last modified: 3 months ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 months agosara82lee
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoRelated Discussions
opinions on Nandina domestica, Pieris Japonica shrubs
Comments (13)I have pieris in various places on my property. All planted at the same time about 7-8 years ago. The couple that I have in almost full shade are growing larger than any others, however I don't see too many flowers. I have some in full sun that do get some red growth but they are very slow growing and also don't flower much. There is a house not far from me that has 2 pieris growing in blazing sun on each side of their front door. They grow beautifully. Nice red new growth every year and profuse blooming. I just can't figure out pieris. It seems that if you happen to find just the right spot it will be magnificent but if not they may limp along to a certain extent. Have you also checked out Kalmia? I like this shrub much more than pieris. Between the buds and flowers they put on a great show. 2 pics of Pieris in heavy shade. Both always have good new growth and are over 3' high, but they never flower very much at all. This is pieris growing in full sun. Nice new red growth, but slower growing (about 1/3 the size of the 2 above) and again barely any flowering. It is the same variety as the 2 in the above photos (not sure which variety though). This is a Kalmia. Took a hard hit over the winter with a bad ice storm we had, but it will recover nicely. For evergreen and flowering I definitely prefer Kalmia over Pieris. I don't have a pic handy of the Kalmia in bud or flower. Hope that helps a little bit. I also have zone envy for Nandina!...See MoreTree recommendations for light shade (camellia friendly)
Comments (10)I'm looking for something deciduous, live oak is absolutely huge and too big. I'd like something either the size of the October glory or smaller. My backyard is 80 feet deep and 110 feet wide. The yard is south facing and the east maple is approximately 15 feet from the closest tpost. That was a blueberry patch, but already pulled the plants and will be pulling the t posts and fencing once the puller arrives. The porch sides are coming down as well, since I want to set out my hammock with the pups and enjoy being outside and watching birds, butterflies and whatever else shows up. I'm excited about it, since I could really feel the breeze after pulling the screening down. If I needed to go with something smaller and closer to the porch, that's something I'd mull over as well. I just would like to have camellias and some other things that work well with them....See MoreWintert morning shade for my camellia?
Comments (2)Frances, if you can tell me the approximate area you are in I can better answer your question. Keep in mind, that gardening zones have changed based on data from more recent years and that many areas have moved from zone 6 to zone 7. I know that I have mine planted on the southwest part of the house--they are shaded in the spring, summer and fall by a Japanese Maple but have full sun in the winter. Mine started to bloom in December this year and is still in bloom! I have others that are on the shaded eastern side of the house. Those, have leaves that are greener but because the site is cooler, they still have not come into bloom. The ones growiing on the Southwest side are growing strong but I do notice that one has color that has a faint bronze shade to it--due strong winter sun. When it gets more shady after the deciduous tree leaf out, the color does seem to get greener. They are fairly easy in most of NJ actually--assuming you are not in a more mountainous/colder region. I feed them fertilizer for acid-loving plants. One more thing, don't know if they are an issue in your area, but deer will eat camellias (leaves, and flowers). Remember, they are in the tea family and in a bad winter, they'll be one of the few smaller bushes that is everygreen....See MoreDying Pieris - Overwatered Possibly?
Comments (4)Thanks for the info. I did check moisture content fairly deep and it seems pretty wet. We've also had more rain than usual here in Atlanta GA this year (I purchased a rain sensor not too long ago to start keeping better track). Currently we seem to be getting 1-2" of rain per week for the past 3 weeks since I've been tracking. Historical watering is a mix of older plants and recent ones. I have several old and new mahonias and they all seem to do pretty well. The soil is somewhat clay like, although I mixed in shrub planting mix about a month ago and it seems to have softened it up quite a bit and made it a lot less clumpy (ie it's pretty easy to stick my moisture probe into the ground even 6-8" with little effort). I did further investigation yesterday and on the worst one most of the limbs were actually dead without green. I pulled it out and looked at the root ball after reading a bit more and it looked over watered (I think). Most of the roots were very small and different from many videos about root rot (usually fresh / larger plants with larger roots that were either mushy brown (bad) or white (good)). However, there were a few larger roots in there that were pretty soft and brown, but a few that were not too soft and still had some white left. Below is a picture of the wad of roots, mostly visible are all the really small fuzzy roots that seem to come out of larger ones, so it's a bit hard to see (again, none of the videos online seemed to have all these small roots, so idk if it is this particular plant or something else I don't understand). I ended up pruning off all the dead limbs and a little bit of the roots that seemed too mushy where possible and putting in a pot for now so I can keep a closer eye on moisture. There isn't much left to the top of the plant and many of the roots on bottom may or may not still be good, but we will see. I doubt it will make it. I inspected the roots of the better plant as well and they seem to be a little better, but likely overwatered as well. It does look better than the first, but in the second pic above you can clearly see many empty stems - 3 months ago those were all full of leaves. I've shut off irrigation to it for now and will start keeping a closer eye on watering back there and checking moisture content every few days until I get a better feel for how much watering is actually needed. I'm hoping adjusting watering for that plant will be enough to let it start growing again. Lastly, the plants do have a "lifetime guarantee" but there is a note stating it doesn't cover improper watering....How does this work? I've never tried to return a plant. Based off what I can tell, I'd guess it was improperly watered (over watered), but I could be wrong. Is that something the store would immediately recognize if I tried to return? It seems improper watering (too much or too little) is likely the cause of 90% of plants not surviving, so I'm not sure if that warranty is good or bad....See MoreDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 months agosara82lee thanked Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7Asara82lee
3 months ago
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