Question
I live in Oklahoma City and have a privacy hedge of Frasier Red Tipped Photinias.  The shrubs have been healthy and have grown to about 10' tall.  Starting last summer, sections of some of the shrubs have died off.  First, all the leaves on a given branch slowly turn brown, then the entire branch dies all the way to the trunk.  The rest of the shrub appears healthy (at least until another branch starts to die off).  So far, no shrubs have died, but several have thinned out considerably due branch die-offs.  No sign of mold or fungus on the leaves and the leaves appear healthy up to the point that the entire branch starts to die.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Gary. unfortunatly, I do not have any first hand knowledge of Photinia 'Frasier', as they do not grow this far north (Minnesota). I did look in my book of woody plants by Michael Dir, and the only mention that he gives is that of leaf spot being a problem. is the branch dead, or do the leaves just brown up and fall off? scratch the bark of the "dead" branch, if it is still green, it may still be alive. look at the leaves that have browned, do they have round spots, maybe with purple rings around them? if that is it, then you may be getting leaf spot. To that, I dont believe it would be leaf spot, as that is usually something that effects the entire tree, not just one branch. You may want to check with your local extension agency, and see if they know more, or have other information on branch die back of a photinia. you should be able to contact them through the local University. If the branch is dyeing back, try and follow the dieback early on, do you notice anywhere on the branch a discoloration, maybe a darkening fo the branch? if you do, it may be a canker. Unfortunatly there is nothing you can do for that, other than cut the branch out, below the canker, and hope that another branch does not get it. Canker is simply like a cancer in humans, but what it dows is cuts off the flow of nutriants to a branch, one branch at a time, untill the plant looks bad. good pruning, and fertilizer may help control it, if thats what it is, usually once a plant gets a canker, it gets weak, thus it keeps getting it, untill the plant is gone. sorry I cant give a definate answer, but you may want to check with the local university to see if they have any other Ideas, as they see this plant quite often.

Good luck and Happy gardening.

Mark