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Pieris japonica is an attractive evergreen shrub, grown for its handsome foliage and display of early spring flowers. The young leaves are often bronze or red, maturing to dark green. They contrast beautifully with the small, white jewel-like flowers, which are very attractive to bees. Pieris is perfect for growing in a shrub border or woodland area, but it does require acid soil.
Find out more about growing pieris, below.
Pieris requires acid soil which is moist but well-drained, and a sheltered, partially shaded spot. If you don’t have acid soil then choose a compact cultivar and grow it in a container of peat-free ericaceous soil.
If planting in the ground, dig a generous hole and plant up to its original planting depth. Mulch the soil around the plant with leaf mould or bark chippings.
How to plant shrubs
Pieris can be grown from seed. Sow under cover in spring. However, to reproduce the parent cultivar, take semi-ripe cuttings in midsummer and keep in a heated greenhouse over winter.
Pieris can succumb to honey fungus and phytopthora root rot.
Mulch annually with well-rotted pine needles, leafmould or bark chippings to maintain a low soil pH. Remove faded flowers and frost-damaged foliage in late-spring.
