Hi - thanks for your reply!

I had a feeling someone would tell me to "bite the bullet", so I'm not
exactly surprised by your advice to replace them (I guess I was just holding
out hope that there was something I could do, because I love their leaves).
Anyway, given the area that I live in (Charlottesville, VA) are there any
evergreen shrubs that you could recommend me using as a property divide that
would be more disease resistant - I don't want a traditional clipped hedge,
I like plants that are allowed to grow in their natural shape and that
require only a small amount of clipping to keep them from getting straggly.
Something that had some colour/flowers would be nice.

Also, do I need to treat the soil with anything before I replant new shrubs
where the Photinias have been?

Many thanks for your help - Debbie



"escapee" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 08:20:13 -0500, "Debbie"
opined:

Hi

Last summer, I planted four Photinia "Red Robin" shrubs in my front yard
because I loved the colour of their leaves and thought they would make an
attractive property divide. They have now almost doubled in size but
when I
took a close look at them recently I noticed that they are absolutely
covered in some kind of leaf spot. I am not a knowledgeable gardener,
but I
have read online that Photinia appear to be prone to leaf spot. I would
like to save the plants but am not sure what to do. Any advice would be
gratefully received.

Many thanks - Debbie
Virginia, USA


Okay, like this or not, photinia is absolutely not going to recover from
leaf
spot. It's a virus in the soil and I know of no true treatment. Second,
it
will certainly not do well if you try to keep it as a hedge. These plants
want
to be 12 feet tall and wide. You put them into unimaginable stress
keeping them
in a hedge. In Texas, they are way overused, and over pruned and there
is a
major decline with that plant, and many, if not all responsible garden
centers
no longer sell it.

I advise you remove them while you still can and put something else there.