Question: My photinias and ligustrums have gotten so big and ugly. They’re only 5 feet tall, yet they have 5-inch trunks. They are also bare down near the ground. What can I do?

Answer: Those are obviously old plants, and it may be time to replace them. Truth is, those are varieties that should have been allowed to get 10 or 15 feet tall. They’re essentially just “running out of gas. ” They probably don’t have the vigor to regrow new branches down low, even if you were to prune them way back.