By Kateye
New Zealand 
I have recently moved to Tauranga and have two photinias approximately 5metres high that have been previously cut into a 'standard ball' shape with a 1.5 metre tall trunk. I want to reshape them but am unsure how much foliage I can remove. Can I prune in early autumn?
25 Mar, 2011
Answers
I would cut them back in early spring. You can cut them fairly hard, but follow the "rule of thumb":
If you have to cut anything thicker than your thumb, cut it back to a vigorous side branch.
Otherwise, they stump sprout fairly easily.
26 Mar, 2011
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Don't know how cold your winters get, but I think your climate's a bit like ours, which means autumn is not a good time to prune quite a bit off. Just remove the bare minimum now reshape properly as growth starts anew in your spring.
25 Mar, 2011