We have a 60 yr. old planting of Rhododendron along one side of our house. They are at least 20' high and all but one of them are healthy and bloom happily each spring.

One is not happy. The leaves are shriveled at the ends and some of the branches (often closest to the top) have died and have a whitish cast. This now affects the blooms (pinky white) and new leaves in the spring and I'm starting to think it's going to die.

Someone suggested that it needed to be fertilized but the other plants are just fine. This one grows near and around a decaying sassafras stump. Could that be the problem?