Red-tips are great border plants, perfect privacy shrubs, they grow fast, flower in spring and can be beautiful when healthy. Planting them in the right spot can be an added dimension to your landscape. Red-tips however, can have negatives, technically classified as a tree, they can outgrow your existing landscape, without proper maintenance they can overwhelm your property, secondly they are extremely susceptible to leaf spot or entomosporium, a disease when left untreated can spread and kill your investment. So how do you overcome these negatives?
Several options are available to you to protect your investment. First, select a variety of red-tip which is known to be a healthier strain, the "Chinese Red-tip" has recently become widely available in nurseries, prized for it's ability to overcome disease, unlike it's cousin the "American Red" variety normally planted in this area. Secondly, plant your shrubs with distance between them and structure, don't plant so close to your house or fence. Leaving enough room for air to get behind them, helping them to dry out and prevent the build up of moisture. When planting, think about planting them away from your house or fence, planted in a open area to add scale and color will give them room to grow, dry out and be chemically sprayed effectively if needed.
Red-tips can be an excellent privacy shrub, large shade shrub or ornamental shrub to any landscaping design, however, keep in mind to choose a disease resistant variety, and be selective in your choice of planting area. If your heart is not set on Red-tips, be creative and choose a shrub less prone to disease and abandon Red-tips altogether.
Click on the title of this post for a pointed article about Red-tips,(Red-tip Photinia Almost Eliminated). Good Luck
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