If you want to create a thick hedge, it is important that the plants are thick and well clothed at the base. If they are not already nice and thick at the base with plenty of leaves and shoots I would prune the plants quite low in April or May to encourage such growth and give you the desired thickness at the base.
However, I would always be careful to leave plenty of foliage on a Photinia when pruning, I would feel a bit uneasy about removing all leaves from evergreen plants by hard pruning, in my experience some respond brilliantly, others sulk and the stress proves too much for them.
Because Photinia are quite vigorous plants I think you could trim them little and often (after the initial harder prune) between April and September to get the desired thickness and shape. Maybe 3 or 4 times per year.Statistics: Posted by gardening_guru — 24 Sep 2010 08:14
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