I love, love, love this shrub! At my last house, we had an astonishing 2-story tall hedge of it, so when we bought this house, I purchased four good sized pots. Three went in the ground and one was potted to be a patio shrub. They looked fabulous all summer and fall with little water.

Now, that said, I do have to admit that by the end of winter, all four plants got blackspot. It was much worse on the two shrubs planted in part shade; the ones in full sun had very little. I absolutely freaked out when I first saw the blackspot, but I think there is an end in sight! In the last few weeks, the shrubs have put out huge amounts of healthy new growth. Hurray!

(Incidentally, I ended up getting my shrubs from--gasp--Home Cheapo and they have done very well... and, man, were they cheap!)

I bought five one-gallon photinia very cheap at the end of summer. Of course, I didn't get them planted for about a year. They lived through the winter in their pots, and then through the following summer with little extra water. I finally got them planted (along the alley where they only got watered the first year.) I thought I'd loose at least one, but nope! All five lived and are now a lovely hedge. It took a couple of years (I'm sure they would have done better without my terrible care), but all I had to do was prune off any long shoots going in the wrong direction. And I haven't had to water them since the second year they were in the ground.

Daphne in Tacoma

It was said: "...all four plants got blackspot. ..."

Only roses get blackspot. Photinia doesn't get blackspot. Nor does anything else.

The spots are either Photinia leaf spot (a disease of photinia which lack full sun and brisk air circulation) or physiological leaf spot. The disease causes leaf drop, the physiological problem is no big deal.

Spotting seems to be becoming pervasive here. Possibly finer-textured parent P. glabra less susceptible, but maybe not. Multiple clones would have to be planted on a site where spotting was occurring and observed. It and other parent P. serratifolia more interesting visually, but far less abundant in nurseries.

jean001, how interesting! It never looked quite like what happened to my roses, but I had read in so many places that it was blackspot, and so I just assumed... Thank you for giving me the correct information.

Yup, it was definitely caused by the plants being in part shade and kind of crammed up against a fence. The one that had tons of sun and lots of room seemed pretty much unaffected, so I am going to move the sick ones today.

I think a lot depends on your soil too. All the healthiest ones I have seen around are on deep, alluvial soils in places with good air circulation. Also, they're all going to look nice for a brief time in the spring (i.e. right now) before the leaf spots catch up with the bright red new growth. Personally, not something I would plant when there are so many better choices.

I've been thinking about photinia for a hedge at the top of one our rock walls. It would get excellent air circulation but the soil is clay on a hillside that doesn't dry out.
I'm looking for a hedge material that is visually interesting that I can keep somewhere between 6 and 12' high, and hopefully not more than about 3' wide with regular pruning. Any suggestions?

For damp soil, Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica).