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Photinia is a hugely popular shrub, a common site in UK gardens. It’s easy to see why so many of us plan our gardens to include Photinia due to it’s versatile nature and striking red colour creating all year round interest.
Here we are specifically discussing Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’, the most common variety of Photinia, also known as Christmas Berry. Here we suggest the best time for ‘Red Robin’ planting and how best to look after it.
Photinia is an evergreen plant with leaves that start bright red when young, maturing to a glossy dark green oval shape. The red appearance is most prominent when new growth is coming through in Spring and Summer. Small, sparse white flowers appear in April – June.
Photinia Red Robin Maintenance
Photinia is easy to care for and maintain and can reach a mature height of 7m and a spread of 3m. Growing at a rate of up to 30cm a year, pruning is only required twice a year to keep your hedge/tree under control and in shape. Trim new shoots to encourage bright red re-growth. Do not trim from late August onwards to prevent new growth being damaged by frost later in the year.
Photinia can be grown as a dense shrub or as a Standard Tree. Being evergreen its perfect for creating privacy in your garden as an all year round hedge screen. As a standard tree, Photinia can create an elevated screen with the bushy head of the tree sitting above the top of a standard fence panel. This creates additional height for increased privacy in your garden. With its modest root structure it can be planted adjacent to buildings.
1/2 Standard and smaller 1/4 Standard Photinia trees are very decorative and perfect for adding a splash of evergreen colour to your garden. Ideal for smaller gardens and front gardens. These forms can be purchased with a topiary or bushy head.
When Should I Plant Photinia?
Photinia Red Robin Planting should usually take place between Autumn and Spring, at a rate of approximately one plant every linear metre. Photinia will thrive in full sun or partial shade and is suited to all soil types provided moist soils are well drained. Irrigation within the first growing season is very important to ensure successful establishment. Installing a simple but effective irrigation system make regularly watering much easier. Be carful not to overwater your new plants.
You can buy Photinia trees or Photinia hedges from our online catalogue.
We can supply plants to anywhere within mainland UK, and can also install them for you throughout the South of England. Please contact the nursery for a competitive quote for installation.
