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Photinia Red Robin Query

alastair_snellalastair_snell Posts: 6
in Problem solving
We have an old Photinia bush which we trim each year and it has always thrived and flowered. This year it is a tree of two halves. Tthe leaves and flowers on the old branches are brown and unhealthy and some of its bark is peeling. Last year we let some of its new branches grow from the bottom and they are thriving and flowering. Could this have affected the older parts of the shrub? Should we cut back the old trunk and branches to leave the newer branches or remove the newer ones to let the old parts recover? Or is something else going on?

Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think I'd cut out the old branches and leave the new healthy ones.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • alastair_snellalastair_snell Posts: 6
    Thank you for your reply. That's my instinct. I suppose the new healthy growth are suckers growing from the base of the trunk rather than branches. Perhaps I should have cut them of when they appeared? Should I wait till Winter to cut back the old wood?
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Is it grafted onto a different rootstock? I didn't think they grew photinia like that so sorry if I misled you, but if the new shoots are suckers growing from below a graft then they're something other than the Red Robin variety. If it's growing on its own roots, and if they look the same as the Red Robin should look when it's healthy, then they're the same variety, so not a problem for a bush although if it was a standard it would end up as a bush if the new growth from the base was left on.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • alastair_snellalastair_snell Posts: 6
    JennyJ said:
    Is it grafted onto a different rootstock? I didn't think they grew photinia like that so sorry if I misled you, but if the new shoots are suckers growing from below a graft then they're something other than the Red Robin variety. If it's growing on its own roots, and if they look the same as the Red Robin should look when it's healthy, then they're the same variety, so not a problem for a bush although if it was a standard it would end up as a bush if the new growth from the base was left on.
    No sorry I thought I had been misleading! It's not grafted as far as I know. I just meant the new branches were all growing from the bottom of the bush. They look exactly the same as the originals and are flowering identically.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    In that case you're good to go! Cut out the old stuff and let the new take over.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • alastair_snellalastair_snell Posts: 6
    JennyJ said:
    In that case you're good to go! Cut out the old stuff and let the new take over.
    Great. Thanks for your help.
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