Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are only about 3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those would be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.

--
W

On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are only about 3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those would be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and was
constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are only about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and was
constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?

--
W

On 4/6/12 5:37 PM, W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are only about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and was
constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?


For a plant that grows that fast, I buy the smallest size (1 gallon),
not the largest. In many cases, you won't know the difference after 3-4
years. With Photinia, you won't know the difference after 1-2 years.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 5:37 PM, W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably expect
to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are only
about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those
would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and was
constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it
initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?


For a plant that grows that fast, I buy the smallest size (1 gallon),
not the largest. In many cases, you won't know the difference after 3-4
years. With Photinia, you won't know the difference after 1-2 years.

Why would it be your goal to buy the smallest plant? Only because it is
the cheapest?

Why wouldn't you want to get the hedge to full size faster, if cost were not
the issue?

--
W

W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 5:37 PM, W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably
expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are
only about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those
would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and
was constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it
initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?


For a plant that grows that fast, I buy the smallest size (1 gallon),
not the largest. In many cases, you won't know the difference after
3-4 years. With Photinia, you won't know the difference after 1-2
years.

Why would it be your goal to buy the smallest plant? Only because
it is the cheapest?


Because it is likely to be healthy and not rootbound.

Why wouldn't you want to get the hedge to full size faster, if cost
were not the issue?

Because the biggest doesn't necessarily get there first. If the biggest is
not healthy and particularly if it is well rootbound the smallest may
overtake it and do better in the long run.

David (the other one)

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 5:37 PM, W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably
expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are
only about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those
would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and
was constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it
initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?


For a plant that grows that fast, I buy the smallest size (1 gallon),
not the largest. In many cases, you won't know the difference after
3-4 years. With Photinia, you won't know the difference after 1-2
years.

Why would it be your goal to buy the smallest plant? Only because
it is the cheapest?


Because it is likely to be healthy and not rootbound.

Why wouldn't you want to get the hedge to full size faster, if cost
were not the issue?

Because the biggest doesn't necessarily get there first. If the biggest
is
not healthy and particularly if it is well rootbound the smallest may
overtake it and do better in the long run.

For Photinia Red TIp in particular, is it difficult to find healthy 6 ft
hedges in 15 gallons planters? I understand root-bound plants are bad.

--
W

On 4/6/12 10:26 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 5:37 PM, W wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 4/6/12 12:54 PM, W wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the tallest size you can reasonably
expect to
find for a Red Tip Photinia? Would those be 15 gallon plants?

My landscaper is installing a hedge and put in plants that are
only about
3
ft tall. I really wanted taller plants but he is insisting those
would
be
root bound. Fairly confused at this point.


It will grow quite fast to 10-15 ft. I used to have Photinia and
was constantly trimming it because of its fast growth.

Okay, but the question was what is the largest size you can buy it
initially
and hope to get healthy plants that are not root bound?


For a plant that grows that fast, I buy the smallest size (1 gallon),
not the largest. In many cases, you won't know the difference after
3-4 years. With Photinia, you won't know the difference after 1-2
years.

Why would it be your goal to buy the smallest plant? Only because
it is the cheapest?


Because it is likely to be healthy and not rootbound.

Why wouldn't you want to get the hedge to full size faster, if cost
were not the issue?

Because the biggest doesn't necessarily get there first. If the biggest is
not healthy and particularly if it is well rootbound the smallest may
overtake it and do better in the long run.

David (the other one)


You (the other David) are quite correct. Furthermore, smaller plants
seem to get extablished better, are easier to plant (smaller holes), and
-- yes -- are cheaper that larger plants.

The key to getting established is for roots to grow into the native (but
improved) soil before the foliage grows. The larger plants -- even
those that are not rootbound -- tend to have too much foliage relative
to the size of the root ball.

Good gardening practices require patience.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary