But a warning: don't try to encourage them to speed up by applying a lot of fertilizer. The leaf diseases that plague this plant can be exacerbated by excessive growth. Once those problems get started, they are a real problem to control. Be patient, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I would venture that Craig's photinia have not had enough time to get roots established, especially if the location is in Boise, Idaho. In my zone, nursery people recommend that little or no fertilizer be applied to shrubs and trees for a couple of years after they have been planted just so the plants will have a need to develop roots. For trees with 2 to 4 inch trunks, if we have the nursery people do the planting, they will add a quart of root hormone (B12) to 15-20 gallons of water to get roots growing, then guarantee the tree. They also recommend we use root hormone on any trees or shrubs we plant ourselves.

We inherited photinia when we moved to our new home two years ago. They were planted as a hedge between the shady side of a picket fence and our driveway, with only a foot of space between the fence and the driveway. They were trimmed to be trees and the ones that had survived are now nine to twelve feet tall, having grown about two feet since we have lived here. Now that we are aware of what they are, we have noticed them in other people's yards, but not pervasive.

What kind of disease problems do you have with photinia? Do you think our drier climates (Texas Panhandle and Boise, Idaho) alleviate the disease problems? Is there a problem with trimming photinia to be trees? They shed their leaves in the spring as they put on new growth. Is that normal?

El Grillo

There is absolutely nothing wrong with pruning Red Tips to a tree-form! I've seen this done many times to great affect. As a matter of fact, limbing large shrubs to tree-form is a wonderful way to create some interesting looks in your garden.

Thank you,

Kathleen