Red tip Plant (Photinia)

When we first moved here, we noticed that we are really exposed to the afternoon sun, and it can get very hot. So we decided  we should grow a  couple of  big trees that can provide ample shade.  We   bought  a flowering tree (the Michelia Champaca  see post dated  June 26), a   Jackfruit Tree , see post dated Sept 2nd (Growing Fruit Trees Part 2) ), a Mango Tree and this Red Tip Plant which is my husband's favorite.

From a small plant of barely 2 feet tall, this Red Tip plant is growing rather well . Actually this is the second plant we bought. The first plant just dried up after  about 2 months or so. Perhaps it was infected.  Those days  I was  away most times.  My husband bought this plant to replace the other plant.   When it was young it grew up in a tall thin slender shape but we had to keep pruning it to make it grow bushy.  My daughter wanted to shape it into layers. If you notice, the bottom layer is taking  shape.  Now the tree is almost ready for the second layering to be done.

 In this picture, the leaves appeared orangish rather than red.  The new leaves start as red, then gradually orange, yellow, light green and finally dark green. It is quite a nice looking shrub when it is all colorful.

This plant is easy to care for, just got to watch out for caterpillars. Once  I noticed the leaves were under attack by these pests. I did not like spraying chemicals, so I cut off all the unsightly leaves. In no time, new leaves sprout out and the tree seemed to turn all red. 

The tree is rather hardy and robust. I feed some general fertilizer and ensures that is is watered sufficiently. Aside from that, I  just give it some regular pruning to shape it.