Photinia Red Robin is one of those plants that you don’t have to worry that you’ll over prune. I usually recommend that you regularly prune photinia to keep it to the shape and height that you want. And also to stop the unpleasantly scented white flowers from blooming or to prune back a photinia that has been badly infected with black spot disease as discussed here. Why prune photinia Red Robin? This shrub grows very actively, often increasing 30cm (1ft)…
To grow photinia from cuttings is a straightforward task. Just follow these steps for a good chance at successfully propagating this plant in this way. I have had the most success with Photina cuttings when taken in late summer or early autumn (Fall) where the cutting is taken from the current season’s growth and the base of the cuttings will be hard and the tip soft. You can also take them as softwood cuttings. Prepare the pots and soil I…
Don’t be put off by the thought that photinias can grow to 5m high and wide in about eight years. With regular pruning and good care, growing photinias in pots or containers is possible and not too difficult. You can also get varieties like photinia ‘little red robin’ and photinia pink marble that grows well in pots too as they are smaller growing varieties growing as little as 1 meter tall. What photinia to grow in pots? The most popular…
Photinia pests and diseases aren’t of great concern as these are strong and hardy shrubs that overall, don’t seem to suffer too much apart from when it comes to black spots on the leaves which I covered in detail in this article. I have also covered problems with yellowing leaves and dropping leaves in my guide here. In this guide, I cover some other pests and diseases that are attracted to photinia’s and discuss what to do about these photinia…
Following on from my guide on growing photinia, I’ve got a couple of lollipop photinias in large pots as well as an established Photinia hedge so I’ve had my fair share of problems with the leaves on my photinias turning yellow and falling off. This can often just be a natural stage in their lives and occasionally, they go through a period of just dropping their leaves. I have also found with my photinias grown in pots, and I used…
Following on from my article about why some of my own photinia leaves started to turn yellow and drop off. In this guide, I look more carefully at why you get black spots on the leaves and how you can try to both prevent them in the first place and how to treat them. Any black spots on a photinia are generally bad news and I’ll be honest, somewhat difficult to get rid of. In general, I have found that…
I think peonies are fairly easy to grow and they are fairly resourceful plants but one issue I have had in the past is with peonies not flowering. When I say not flowering, this can mean a lot of things from buds never actually forming, buds not opening or simply the buds drop off before they open. I think the most common problem is that the buds actually never form. Now for me, I quickly learnt that I had planted…
It’s not necessary to divide peonies and they can do just fine if lift to do their own thing. However, I like to divide mine every 3-4 years as I find they make much better plants and don’t become too overcrowded which can also increase the chances of diseases. Ideally, I like to divide them into smaller sections in late summer/autumn/Fall, usually around September. I find this is probably the best time to divide them but you can also do…
I’m a big fan of peonies and love both the herbaceous and intersectional peonies and I have both in my garden. I personally think the stunning large blooms are one of the most beautiful flowers you can have, it’s just a shame the flowers are a little short lived. However, the green foliage still provides an excellent backdrop of colour in herbaceous and shrub borders which is why I always deadhead the flowers as they finish in summer and then…
Following on from my guide on peony pests and diseases and why some of my peonies were wilting. I thought it would be a good idea to do an article on what’s been eating my peonies. This has always been a problem for me, yet my mum’s peonies in her garden go untouched. Not sure what it is about my peonies but this is why I now always cut mine back later in the season to provide some winter peony…