Red Robin dropping leaves and flowering.

angelpeach23 · May 2019

Spotting on the leaves, red and green and huge leaf lose is making my 'tree' look ill. It is 20-25ft high - recently thick and bushy but now looking very thin - although flowering. It doesn't look like fungus as the centres are not pronounced - more like patchy black/brown spots.

Could it be too big? The soil is dreadful but it has thrived so far - 10-15 years...

Can anyone shed light on this please? I hate it to die as it is a proper little tree.

Thank you.

Obelixx · May 2019

It takes a lot of energy to produce all those flowers and so it is not surprising that older leaves will be sacrificed, especially if the soil is poor and the plant is hungry. I suggest you give it a generous scattering of blood fish and bone worked loosely into the soil below and as wide as the canopy and then give it a serious soaking of several gallons and finally a mulch of well-rotted manure, garden compost or multi purpose compost with added feed in it.

That should perk it up.

Borderline · May 2019

From your description, it sounds like the common Photinia leaf spot. They usually start with very small spots that usually go un-noticed for a few years, but as they progress, the leaf develops more larger and more noticable. Longterm, they weaken the shrub to the point of leaves dropping prematurely.

Make sure you regularly remove all dead leaves around the base because it is through the damp weather they spread and re-infect through splashes especially lower down the shrub because the of the soil. Try to lay a new thick layer of mulch every spring to minimise its spread.

Red Robin dropping leaves and flowering.

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