Red Robin unwell.
Patricia101
Posts: 16
Hi all. Can anyone offer any advice as to what might be wrong and or what I can do to maintain my photinia bushes. I have a well established shrub which is now about 12 feet and a small variegated bush about 3 years old. The problem applies to both bushes. I get new leaves , a brilliant red but many are shrivelled or curled at the edges. As they mature they then drop. This happens every year! A lot appear eaten , I have never found the culprit but today I saw a small green caterpillar ??? (thought it was bit early for them). The bushes are clearly stressed as some of the leaves are blotchy.
I don't want to get rid of them, probably wouldn't get the roots out of the old one. Would a hard prune help? I prefer the less formal appearance but will do it if it sorts the problem. I have given a bone meal feed in April.
Grateful for any advice.
Posts
Hard pruning won't hurt them Patricia. They may be suffering from black spot as they're the same family as roses. The maxim with roses is well fed better able to resist diseases.
Ahh-didn't know that Dave- also getting confused re pruning times- can I prune now or do I wait until after the new growth slows.
You can prune it back now yes, and as Verdun says they can suffer from vine weevil. I also prefer FBB rather than bonemeal for many shrubs. I only really use bonemeal when planting roses.
I did wonder about vine weevils Verdun, just applied nematodes to pots but these are in the ground - applied some but then the cold spell came so they have probably died!
I have pruned back the small bush , new buds hard to see as it only seems to have growth at the ends!! one more attempt I think and a feed. Any ideas re the green squiggly thing(?caterpillar wrapped in a leaf.)
Thanks that's really helpful- out with the pruners tomorrow. The weevil suggestion might be right as the little rose bush next to one of the bushes had chunks out of the leaves last year. I do have slugs- lots of them, do they eat these bushes?
Photinias are impossible to kill in my view. I've got one which has been severely cut back several times over the years and it just springs back into life and then needs to be taken back again. I find that if I leave it to go, it tries to turn itself into a tree, and although it has lots of leaves, they are all on the outside and nothing inside. All the dead leaves create a mess in my borders and create a great haven for slugs and snails. I normally take mine back in the early autumn which means that if it puts on any growth, it hardens up for winter, and I get the bright red leaves for the spring/early summer. Last year I reduced its height (about 18 foot) by half, and this year, I'll take it back even further (another 3 feet), as I want the main trunk back below fence height and try and get it back to more of a shrub.