Need advice about my Pieris

Posts

• Fairygirl Posts: 55,117

  April 2023

  If you're keeping it potted, you'll have to prune it. That's why it's looking the way it is - it simply doesn't have enough sustenance in that wee barrel to maintain the top, and the roots will be filling it.
  It would have benefited from being regularly pruned from the time it looked in the first photo. It was never to going to manage to stay that size, and healthy, without being in the ground or in a very large, purpose built container. They want to be very large shrubs.
  The other one will end up the same if you don't prune each year. 

  It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
  
  
  
  I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...

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• JennyJ Posts: 10,576

  April 2023

  If the old one's been in the same container for 14 years without fresh compost or feeding it will be absolutely starving, never mind hungry. It would be happier in the ground if you have acid soil, otherwise in a large container with fresh ericaceous compost. The compost level looks quite low but don't just pile fresh compost on top (best not to have compost up against the bark, it can make it rot). You might be able to take it out of the container, tease some of the old compost out of the roots, trim any over-long or circling roots and repot back in the same container at a higher level.
  

  Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  

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• ren.b Posts: 164

  April 2023 edited April 2023

  Hi Jenny - as I said above it HAS been completely re-potted and regularly fed at the appropriate times with a good liquid ericaceous feed, I don't have acidic soil in the garden which is why it is sitting in ericaceous compost in the barrel.  I don't agree with the diagnosis that it is  'starving' because if you look at the one next to it that one is flourishing and has received the same care but it's a lot younger.  I am going to follow the instructions about refreshing the soil in this video but my question was really asking about cutting back the dead wood and maybe trimming it back.  https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-refresh-compost-in-pots/

  
  
  

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• ren.b Posts: 164

  April 2023

  Fairy girl - THANK YOU!!  You answered my question re the pruning, you're bang on, I have never pruned it because all the info I found said you didn't need to prune pieris and I didn't have a clue how to do it (you know me by now, I'm hopeless when it comes to pruning and the gazillion pruning groups on the RHS site just confuse me even more) - so am praying you can help by telling me anything about where I should cut and how far down I can go, I was going to prune the smaller one but again, not sure how far back I should go, I intend to take some off where it's trailing onto the floor and anywhere else it needs - is it right that I wait until it's finished flowering before I go near it with secateurs?  BTW, when I repotted the big one it wasn't pot bound and I was suprised at how much spare soil was round the roots.   don't suppose you know if there's a good video anywhere that shows an idiots guide to pruning?
  

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• Fairygirl Posts: 55,117

  April 2023

  You can't really compare the two shrubs - the bigger one has been in a pot for a much longer time, which is why @JennyJ has commented on the amount of nutrition available, and therefore the difference between the two is down to the fact that the smaller one hasn't been in that situation for as long a time.
  Constantly feeding artificially is never the right approach, especially for shrubs, because they need room and decent soil in order to thrive. Mulching regularly, whether potted or in the ground,  with a suitable medium like leaf mould or good compost [home made or bought]  and a top layer of bark is also perfect for them. Compost alone is no use for shrubs either if they're staying potted as it just disappears as it breaks down. They need a soil based medium. 
  It will slowly have been struggling more and more over time, hence my comment that the smaller one will do the same if it isn't pruned or, better still, put in a better site, like a bigger container, as I mentioned earlier. 
  They also don't really need acidic soil - neutral is perfectly fine as long as it isn't at the alkaline end of neutral. 
  I've never had to prune Pieris - they just get planted here and left to get on with it, as the conditions suit them perfectly. I'd only remove damaged branches, or the odd one if it was looking very lopsided or similar, but they tend to just grow in a nice habit anyway as long as they have the right amount of space. 
  However, you'd probably just take some individual stems/branches back to a good leaf joint, and that's best done after flowering. 

  It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
  
  
  
  I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...

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