pieris japonica katsura

I planted one of these last year in a new bed treated with loads of ericaceous compost. So far it hasn't flowered and some of the stems have died. Generally it doesn't look too healthy. Do you think I need to put more ericaceous compost around it or is it likely to be something else. It's fairly well protected being in front of the kitchen window and next to a big palm plant.

Can you post a picture of it? There are a ton of different things that could be going on, and a picture could really help narrowing it down. I wouldn't worry about the lack of blooms, many plants take a little time to get established before they'll put out blooms. But the dying stems is a sign of some problem. Without any other info to go on, my first suspicion would be a watering issue of some sort, but there are other possibilities as well.

I agree with Ecrane about possible watering issue, also it might be getting too much shade from the palm, dont add any more ericaceous compost just yet as too rich could also burn the roots, these plants like a slight ericaceous compost, but will tolerate slightly less, how long has the shrub been in this area and what size is the shrub, they take time to get to flowering in the open garden, first this year you will notice the bright coloured new foliage, say by May/June, then the flowers should follow, usually cream coloured flowers, so a picture would really help to look into the problem further. WeeNel.

The plant went in middle of last year and was bought straight from the garden centre. I bought 2 at the time and have planted one either side of the palm. The other one seems okay. The problem one is in what should be the most sheltered spot. Both have azaleas next to them which are doing really well. As for watering, we put an irrigation system in at the time of planting and all the other plants in the border seem to be okay. I've included a photo so you can see what I mean about the state of the plant. Cheers.

The soil around the plant in the pic looks wet enough to me, but on saying that, most gardens can have what you call a blind spot, either not enough moisture being retained in the soil or something buried under the soil preventing the water reaching the roots or perhaps preventing the roots getting down, another thing to look for is either a tiny insect eating the foliage or some form of disease getting hold of the foliage, the other thing worth looking at, when you say this plant is in the more sheltered bit, does this mean it gets less light, less wind or in what way is it less sheltered and from what, could be a clue. I know the ones I grow have the reddish foliage colour on the new more tender foliage and it then greens up when matured, also after flowering, when I remove the flowers, I also cut a tiny bit of the branch away too as this encourages more new foliage to form the next year and this gives even more colour to the shrubs each spring when the new growth starts again, look and see also that the plants are not set in the soil too close together as some neighbouring plants could be the type that take up most of the moisture, maybe you could even try a acid plant feed, a small handful around each plant and then hand forked into the soil could maybe help boost this little plant up a bit, the plants also like top dressed by leaf mould each spring, they are like Azaleas and dont have really deep roots so be careful you dont dig around them too deep. Good luck. WeeNel.