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Photinia Fraseri Red Robin Damage

February 13, 2009

Question: Due to the heavy snowfall, my Photinia fraseri red robin has cracked in many places, some are minor cracks but cracks nonetheless, is there any doctoring I can do to save this beautifully shaped 7 year old shrub? We had about a foot of snow here. Answer: I’m sorry to hear about your Photinia. The good news is that this is a very easy plant to grow and responds well to pruning. The important thing here is not to let disease get into the plant through the cracks. Therefore you need to remove any badly cracked branches and prune back those which have cracked further up. In order to maintain a good shape you may need to remove healthy branches, take your time and walk around the plant a few times to make sure the shape is pleasing. By the spring you should see new growth appearing from below the cut, this new growth will be the lovely bright red which the red robin is famous for. If after some time the new growth ruins the shape of the plant, just prune it back again. My mum has a red robin and I frequently prune it hard to encourage the new red growth.

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