Comments on: the many faces of photinia

By: ricki

ricki — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:04:32 +0000

Grace~I remembered you mentioning that fungus, but all the stuff I’ve been seeing looks beyond healthy.

Lawn can, indeed, be a thing of beauty…and way easier to maintain than open ground, which I have been weeding over, and over, and over, and…

By: Grace

Grace — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:41:37 +0000

Hi Ricki~~ As I’m sure you’re aware it wasn’t that many years ago when Photina contracted that horrid foliar fungus. My neighbors lost theirs and we lost our privacy. It seems to have recovered or evolved or something because the at-large plants look better than ever.

For me: Lawn. It’s such a pain in the arse to deal with but let’s face it, in small doses it can be so restful and cooling, especially during the summer months.

By: ricki

ricki — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:10:17 +0000

Loree~I moved from a house I had been renting for 11 years just because the neighbors cut down a laurel hedge that had shielded us from looking straight out our windows into theirs. It was the first time R ever saw me throw a full-blown tantrum.

Karen~I actually envy you your nandina for just the reasons you mention. The one we planted died on us.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:18:46 +0000

I have scoffed at this plant, it is true, but the red foliage is amazing and if you don’t plan to prune it, why not?! It should give you a great hedge and is more interesting than laurel for sure. I have nandina here and let it stay, despite its ubiquity in landscaping. The berries and variety in foliage colors year-round are nice to see, especially when there’s not much else out there!

By: Loree

Loree — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:50:36 +0000

Our neighbor on the south side had HUGE Photinia growing along their house, next to our drive. I loved them because they allowed me the illusion that there was not a house there, just a huge Photinia forest. Yes I cursed them when the pollen turned everything yellow but for 50 weeks of the year I loved them. Then they cut them down. So sad. Luckily they didn’t remove the stumps so they are coming back, but not fast enough. I hope yours grow faster!