Sounds like it is too large to move now. It has a reputation for getting diseased sooner or later, so it may not be a problem for much longer.

Resin

PS spellcheck for info searches: Photinia.

The trauma of moving it (if that's feasible) might make it more vulnerable to fungal leaf spot.

You could ask a tree service with a good arborist about thinning branches to let more light through.

A healthy tree form Photinia can be very attractive, so I sympathize with your dilemma.

The defoliating leaf spot it is subject to is becoming common enough that we are seeing it quite a bit even out here. Don't put much money into this specimen, if it becomes infested you will want to be rid of it. The disease is like black spot of roses (which are in the same family), in that the leaves get spotty and then drop prematurely unless the shrub is kept sprayed for it - year after year, indefinitely.

The leaf spot disease is mostly a problem for red tips that have been sheared or shaped. When the plant is allowed to grow naturally as a tree form the disease is less likely.

Is there room to get a mechanical tree spade to the site? If so, it could be moved with little or no problem. Get out your yellow pages and ask your local tree services if they have a tree spade.

Not worth the expense of bringing in a tree spade to move something like a photinia, a common and easily grown shrub and unlike a specimen tree, with little monetary value. I responded to the same post on a different forum but like the others here, agree that the stress placed on a mature shrub of any size by transplanting at this time of year and with the strong potential for disease problems, it is not worth the effort.

IME, pruned or unpruned, photinias are just as likely to contract the fungal leaf spot as not. In fact, regular pruning or shearing (if hedged) can delay the progression of the disease.

Trim it back as one would do an overgrown holly hedge.

We have one in full sun on the west side at the north corner of our house. Several years ago, it was allowed to grow as tall as you describe yours to be. At that time, we cut it four foot shorter and even trimmed up the sides a good 3 feet all the way around. It looked pretty bare when we had finished all that trimming, but since we did it in the spring, the shrub produced more leaves, and by fall the shrub showed no signs that it had been pruned back so severly.

If you do yours as described above, and once it leafs out again you find that it still blocks too much light; simply trim most but not all of the new growth off early in the fall, and next year, in the spring cut the rest of the bush away until it allows the amount of light you desire to acess your window.

After letting the shrub recover from that last described pruning, simply make sure to keep the shrub at the desired height by faithfully trimming it every time it grows more than a foot larger than you desire for it's final size.

Mine survived such drastic pruning, with out showing any signs that we caused it to struggle, except for the relatively short time it took the bare branches to produce new leaves.

If you like your shrub, enough to want to transplant it then the above described effort is well worth your time.

On the other hand, if you want to plant something else there, simply throw away the overgrown one and purchase a new Red tip photenia shrub for planting in a more appropriate place. They are not very expensive, and they also grow fairly quickly, once established.

Try to root some cuttings. If you can get those to root you wont feel so bad about getting rid of the big one.

>>>>>might it be possible to move it instead of just cutting it down? It would be great in another area of our yard... I just hate to kill it if it's at all possible to save it.It is POSSIBLE... with a tree spade. Expensive but possible. Worth it? Probably not.

>>>>>>>>>>>IME, pruned or unpruned, photinias are just as likely to contract the fungal leaf spot as not. In fact, regular pruning or shearing (if hedged) can delay the progression of the disease. Wrong. The disease is more likely to spread in conditions of poor air circulation. NEVER shear a red tip. Use reach in pruning.

I should add that my experiance with red tips is limited to the deep deep humid south. Here, if sheared they die. Left absolutely alone and neglected in open sun, they do well.

Thank you guys soooo much for all the valuable info. (And the spelling check! :) )
I think we've decided to do a drastic trim and see what happens. Perhaps then we can keep it to a reasonable size for us and it's location.
Thanks again!

vancleaveterry, if you search under "photinia leaf spot", nearly all resources will recommend pruning as a cultural control for this problem. What they DO caution against is excessive pruning/shearing during the summer months when it is likely to result in lots of vulnerable, succulent new growth. And correct pruning is a way to increase air circulation.

I must respectfully disagree. Shearing doesn't increase air circulation, quite the opposite, and I imagine that leaves that are cut in the shearing process are then more vulnerable to the disease. This is the case from my experiance.

Reach in pruning is the way to go. Leaves are not damaged and the plant is thinned, allowing for air circulation. Here in the deep south they do best if planted in a sunny loaction and left alone to grow into small trees.

Texas_Jennifer,
So my question is which route did you choose to go with your Red-tip Photenia's...did you aggressively trim or did you try and transplant? I ask as as I also live in Texas and have several Red-tip Photenia's in my yard. They are extremely healthy and some have been there for years. I have two that are smaller and they block the stained glass windows. I to hate to just whack them down as they are in excellent condition and very beautiful. Just curious on which route you went with and what kind of success you had.

Rockford

I think I have the same bushes/trees in my back yard, I know they are Red Tips, but I'm not sure if there are different varietes. We just moved here last summer, and I really wanted to mow these guys down to a manageable height but alas they block the neighbors house... I did experiement with one of them, wacked it in half, sure enough it's exploding with new growth this spring. However I shall research the leaf spot issue and pruning, I wouldn't be shearing like a chirstmas tree, but cutting out whole limbs or cutting them in half to reduce overall height of the plant which is what it sounds like you must do if you want any light in that window....

Yours look like these on the left, I don't know why the ones on the right are lighter in color....

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This pic was last summer when we moved in, I removed some of the limbs so we could install the fence....

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