Marianne's Response

Kitten’s Question

My Red Tipped Photinias are looking bad. My husband put some fertilizer on them,but they still look bad.We live in Louisiana.
Thank you, Melinda Bickham

Posted by on May 24, 2016

Marianne's Response

Photinias are a handsome evergreen when healthy but very susceptible to both fire blight and powdery mildew. Warm, moist weather and poor air circulation encourage these foliage diseases. I suggest you prune the damaged sections back and clean up any fallen leaves to help stop the spread of these diseases. A fungicide spray can be tried but in my experience even using Funginex on photinia in early, mid and late spring could not stop the leaf drop. I no longer recommend this shrub for use in areas where there is high spring rainfall. You may want to replace this disease magnet with a hardier shrub. Another idea is to remove all the lower branches and train your photinia into stardard or tree shapes. Having a bare trunk may allow for better air circulation and foliage away from the ground will be less likely to become infected. Good luck and Keep Growing, Marianne Binetti