Hedge Pruning Question

[jimndeb]

Hi you all.
I have these hedges taking over my walkway and in the past I have pruned them timidly with hand clipper's. Last year I saw someone with the same hedges HACK them waaay back. I thought at the time that they were dead for sure but they came back. I'd like to do the same.

I was hoping someone here could give me some input on what sort of hedges they are and the best time of year to do something like this.

Here they are:

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/7237/19278ru.jpghttp://img367.imageshack.us/img367/2259/19285xm.jpg

Thanks for any help

Jim

[Bamboo]

If your curious about how a plant will react to a "hard " pruning I would try test cuts first. Go back in to the old wood and cut it back in an unconspicuous place and see if you get some sprouting. Also look for latent nodes on the plant and cut to thoes but not beyond. If you get some sprouting your good to go.That plant kindof looks like a Photinia.

[jimndeb]

Based on your comments i looked around and think that it is a Photinia x fraseri.

here is an exact representation. (http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Photinia_Red.html)

They are very vibrant. In general is winter a bad time to prune. Is it better to do it in summer, late summer?

thanks.

Jim

[HardDaysKnight]

Sometimes the best remedy is a rip-out and a new beginning.
If you are not married to the shrub, I would suggest clearing
it out and looking at the many lower maintainence alternatives.

[jimndeb]

Originally posted by HardDaysKnight
I would suggest clearing
it out.

Wow.
No I like it. It is totally low maintenance, very dense and provides privacy. It is just grows to well and is getting to big. I just want to take a couple of feet off of it this year instead of a couple of inches.

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the plant. My question is about pruning. When is the best time to do it?

Thanks.
Jim.

[trees]

Time to prune depends on what type of pruning & what type of plant. When it comes to Photinea, whenever the pruners are sharp and the body is willing.

Oh, and about Photinea.........

The man that introduced this plant into the market, Tom Dodd of Semmes, AL, no longer grows it. Why? Because it is in the Rose family & gets all the diseases that go with that distinction. Typically what happens is they grow to about 15' or so, then the black spot & mildew eat them up & they die (takes less than 10 years) This is not a maintenance free shrub. Unless you call spraying a 12' high shrub a couple times a month for fungus and carefully removing and bagging all diseased foliage care-free.

If you can't tell, I'm not wild about it and never, ever, ever use on landscape plans. The only reason it's still around is that it's attractive, very adaptable, is a fast grower and easy to propagate, which makes it cheap; a Home Depot staple. That said, it will rebound from hard pruning just fine. Keep in mind, though, that if you're having to do this renewal pruning, it's probably not the right plant for the spot. A better plant that has similar ornamental attributes (prettier, in my opinion), is disease free, grows a little slower & doesn't get as big is Cleyera (Ternstroemia gymnathera). I always recommend getting rid of Photinea when they become a problem because they'll only get worse, not better. In fact, rare is the situation when I don't recommend removal. An ounce of prevention beats a hundred pounds of cure...

That's my 2 cents...

[greenman]

Around here, those 'Red Tips' ( Photenia) are being replaced with Cleyra. Red tips gets black spot and other diseases and soon die. They can be kept from black spot with preventative maintenance. I actually have a row of them in my yard, and have had almost no problems because I cut them back hard every spring and clear out the disease. jimndeb, go ahead and prune back as much as you like, I would suggest waiting until spring, and for right now just cut back what is in the way.