"Farm1" wrote in message
...
"W" wrote in message
...
What is the ideal soil for Photinia Fraseri (aka Red Robin) grown in a
temperate Mediterranean climate like California?

My gardener planted a row of Photinia hedges and they all appear to be
dying
off. The soil is almost clayish, and now I am reading that Photinia
like
fast draining soils? I think they were just not well planted, and now
I
want to research the topic before making things worse.

You should have done your research at the time you first asked us about
his
plant earlier this year in April.

I hired someone else to do that research and to plant them for me. They
apparently didn't do the homework. And if I am doing the homework for
someone who claims to be a plant expert, I am probably micromanaging. In
retrospect, I wish I had micromanaged.


They like fertile soil that doesn't get waterlogged. Shove a finger down
into the soil and find out what the conditions (soild & moisture) are at
about 6 inches down and then report back to us.

So I did a few tests and it looks like part of the problem is the soil is
different in different locations. Some of the soil looks compacted, dry,
and very clayish. When you water it the water doesn't seem to drain down
very far and is retained near the surface. Other parts of the soil look
well mixed in with planter mix and the soil looks like it drains well. Of
course if that soil is meeting hard clay a few feet down, then potentially
you get water retention at the roots.

i'm going to get someone to come in and test the soil and probably I need to
have someone replant.

--
W