We’re pleased to announce that King and Co has retained its Plant Healthy certification for another year. As a Plant Healthy certified plant nursery, retail, and trade outlet, we can assure our customers that all our trees and plants are sourced, grown, handled, and treated with the utmost care and respect to biosecurity.
The Plant Healthy scheme focuses on protecting the horticultural industry, cultivated plants, and natural habitats. It aims to achieve this by minimising the introduction and spread of destructive plant pests throughout the supply chain. Adherence to this scheme is becoming a frequent requirement for supply tenders for tree and hedge planting schemes in the UK.
King and Co are in regular contact with DEFRA and APHA to ensure the Nursery is up to date with the latest plant health regulations. This includes the Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) movement restrictions currently affecting London and surrounding counties such as Essex. As a result, we can dynamically ensure our trees, plants, and garden centre materials are protected, which means our customers receive healthy trees and shrubs.
The scheme examines the Nursery’s processes from grower to garden. The certification is evidence that we voluntarily follow the best industry practices.
View King and Co’s Plant Healthy Certificate of Conformity for 2023-24 here.
Take a look at our recent project where we used Pleached Photinia Red Robin to boost privacy in a new build garden. Photinia Red Robin is one of our favourite evergreen varieties, so this garden will have year-round coverage and privacy, even in winter.
Pleached trees are a great choice for enhancing privacy because their foliage has been grown for several years to cover a trellis frame, this creates an immediate screening effect! Just like our other screening trees, pleached trees typically feature a clear stem of 1.8m, with most frames measuring 1.2m x 1.2m. This lets you enjoy the privacy benefits of a hedge without sacrificing valuable garden space.
The above image showcases a recent planting project featuring Pleached Photinia trees with 1.8m clear stems and 1.2m x 1.2m frameworks. As you can see, these pleached trees were perfect for planting against our customers standard 6ft fence panel. This design not only created an elegant, stilted hedge that sits beautifully above their fence line, but also provides them with ample time for planning an under-planting scheme. Planting Photinia Red Robin was also a clever way to add seasonal interest, as its foliage emerges as a striking red in the spring before maturing to a deep, lush green!
The Tree Nursery in Rayne, Essex (less than an hour from London) is open to the public Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm. With over 2000 products on site, our sales team can advise on the most appropriate trees or plants to use in your garden. We can also conduct this over email, and are able to dispatch trees and plants next-day nationwide!
We also stock pleached Cherry laurel and Hornbeam with 1.5 x 1.2m frames. If you’re seeking an alternative to Photinia, Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is another evergreen variety that offers year-round coverage. Alternatively, if you prefer more natural light during the winter, Hornbeam is a great deciduous option. While Hornbeam is deciduous, it retains its brown leaves well into the winter, allowing light to filter through while still providing some coverage!
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King and Co will be open on Tuesday 2nd June 10am – 4pm, no appointments necessary.
Photinia trees and hedging are a fantastic way to introduce vibrant colour, life, and increased privacy to any garden. At King & Co, we offer Photinia Red Robin in two versatile forms to suit your gardening needs. Our standard Photinia trees are an excellent choice for creating an effective and natural screen. Alternatively, our bushy Photinia are perfect for establishing stunning hedges. Explore the many possibilities Photinia can bring to your garden today!
Photinia Red Robin is a stunning evergreen shrub particularly admired for its brilliant red young leaves, which later transform into a glossy green. This vibrant transformation makes the Photinia a fantastic choice for adding year-round interest and structure to gardens and property borders. As an added bonus, it produces a profusion of white flowers in April and May, further enhancing its appeal.
Photinia Red Robin suits almost any garden style from formal layouts to more tropical-inspired settings. Although it can be used for privacy or as a hedge to define property lines, it can also be planted as a shrub to adorn the outside area. In fact, the Photinia Red Robin is an exceptional choice if you’re searching for a shrub that provides vibrant colour and visual interest across the changing seasons!
Check out our video guide for more advice!
At King & Co, we offer a beautiful selection of Photinia Red Robin trees in both standard and pleached form. These trees are an excellent choice for creating a natural screen above a 6ft fence panel, providing an attractive solution for obscuring unwanted views such as neighbours’ windows, satellite dishes, or extensions.
Both the standard and pleached options feature a clear stem of 1.8m. However, our pleached trees have their vibrant red foliage expertly trained onto a 1.2 x 1.2m frame, making them an excellent choice if you’re looking to achieve a more formal effect. On the other hand, our standard Photinia Red Robin trees are left to grow in their natural shape, these a better for those who prefer a less structured look!
We also have Photinia Red Robin available in hedging form, these bushy plants are perfect for defining garden spaces and boundaries. Planted in a row, they create a beautiful hedge that can reach about 4 meters in height when mature. For a dense and formal look, we recommend pruning them twice a year!
Just like pleached trees, espalier plants are trained onto a frame to develop a wider and flatter shape. At King & Co we stock ‘Pink Marble’ and ‘Carre Rouge’ Photinia varieties in espalier form !
Photinia ‘Pink Marble’ – Striking variegated foliage that emerges red with a green tint and pink margin. This foliage then matures to dark green with a creamy margin.
Photinia ‘Carre Rouge’ – Shares a strong resemblance with the popular ‘Red Robin’, distinguished by its slightly smaller foliage that exhibits a deeper shade of red.
We hope this article gave a little insight into the ways you can use Photinia trees and hedging to enhance your garden! Please contact us if you have any more questions, we’re always happy to help!
You can buy trees, hedging, shrubs and topiary online by browsing our website.
If you do not see a plant or size that is suitable for you then please call as we stock a wide variety of plants in our tree nursery. It’s worth noting that many other websites sell other people’s stock (i.e. they act as an agent) so you cannot view the products at their own site. At King & Co, all of our advertised plants are available for viewing at our tree nursery in Rayne, near Braintree, situated just over an hours drive out of London.
Our knowledgeable and experienced tree nursery staff are always contactable via phone on 01376 340469 or if you have any questions regarding any of our trees or accessories.
If you cannot see what you require on our website, please complete the enquiry form. We will give it our urgent attention and will get back to you shortly with a solution that meets your needs.
If you are looking for specific evergreen trees, Photinia, Leylandii hedging, Leylandii trees, instant hedging or shrubs, use the search bar at the top of the page
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