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Out of control and otherwise sad Red Tipped Photinias
DH and I are first time homeowners and did zero pruning on our red tipped photinias (and azaleas and gardenias and other misc shrubs) during the spring/summer... and now they are looking pretty sad.
We have about 6 red tip photinias across the front of our house. Three of them have these out of control high shoots growing up and out. Another one seems to have not fared so well last winter during the insanely cold temps we had.
Ideally we'd like them to not look so motely, but I know it will take some training. I'm not really sure how to get started since I've never done this before.
The anal retentive side of me wants to take the shears and chop off the tall shoots right now because it's annoying me, but I've read contradicting advice on doing that, particularly with our first frost around the corner.
I'm looking for any advice or resources to learn how to scale back the size of the monster plants and how to encourage my dwarf to take shape... and possibly someone to enable me to pick up the shears (or at least give me a compelling reason why I need to store them).
Thanks!
Re: Out of control and otherwise sad Red Tipped Photinias
I've dealt with them, too. Actually one is just dead. They are big shrubs. If you don't have a place to let them be, then remove them and find something else that is natural for the spot you want. They do grow up to be nice and big and grow faster with more water.
You will always be trimming them back, several times a year. It is OK to trim a little to get rid of the really wild things, but I wouldn/t do anything severe right now. They might look naked if you do too much. Wait until spring for the major stuff as they will be growing and filling in faster then.
As my dad told me earlier this week when I asked him a plant question...
"I understand there's some sort of school around here where they study those things. Kinda famous for it. Maybe they've figured out how to use that internet thing."
Gig em.
(me, I's wait a couple more weeks and then just whack'em back to about 5' or whatever you can comfortably reach. But then I hate the things and would kinda be hoping it died. But ours never did. And yes, I still have some in my yard that are about 8' tall or higher)