With the drought last year I lost two fairly large (~ 5 foot tall) Photonia/Redtip shrubs that were part of a hedge. I've been to several nurseries, but the biggest one I've seen for sale anywhere is about 2' tall. It seems like it will take years for something that size to catch up to its siblings in the hedge row and look bad.
I assume there is some resource that landscapers have to find shrubs to address this problem, but I'd like to try this as a DIY project if possible. Can anyone provide guidance for what I should be looking for in the phonebook/google to find larger shrubs/plants?
Also, judging by the root system on the dead ones I pulled up, there might be some challenge planting a shrub that big. Any advice/tips to ensure survival of a large shrub when planting to protect my investment? I'm sure they won't be cheap, if I can even find them.