Photinia Red Robin Hedging Plants

Photinia Red Robin are quick growing evergreen plants. However, we find on the nursery that in order to keep Photinia hedges dense we do need to trim them frequently. This will add to the time it takes for the Photinia Hedge to get up to size, but will be worth it in the long run as the hedge will be much fuller and provide a better barrier for wind, noise and privacy. The speed of growth will also vary depending on things such as how well the ground is prepared prior to planting, whether the planting site has been sufficiently decompacted. Have the plants been planted correctly and subsequent aftercare, feeding and watering of the plants.

Photinia hedging plants typically grow up to around 3 or 4 metres high if left unchecked. However, Photinia Red Robin can comfortably be kept lower than this when maintained as a hedge and can make a fantastic front garden hedge at around 3 or 4 feet high.

Our answer to spacing of the plants is always time over budget. If using our 10 litre potted Photinia plants, then we would recommend planting at 3 plants per metre. This is the same planting density that we use for our Instant Photinia Red Robin hedges grown in 90 litre troughs. This way the plants are just about touching when planted, so giving them space to grow into, but not too much that you are left with big gaps in the hedge. We give a recommendation of the planting density for each plant size on the website. Our recommendations are based on planting at a density that the plants will touch after 1 full growing season. This is only a guideline and please use more plants to reduce this timescale or less plants per metre if you have time to wait.

Most of the Hedging plants that we sell will require the same planting procedures. We give advice on how to plant a hedge here on our website. https://hedginguk.com/hedging-advice/how-to-plant-a-hedge/

On the nursery we trim the Photinia hedges at least 3 times a year. This helps create a dense hedge from the start. Photinia Hedges do have a tendency to go rather leggy if you don’t trim them frequently in the early stages. Once you have a good density to the hedge then the trimming can be less frequent with more of a maintenance trim once or twice a year. As an added incentive each time you trim a Photinia hedge you are rewarded with a flush of new growth of bright red leaves.

Photinia hedges on the nursery are one of the first to get growing again in the Spring. We can sometimes see 30cm or more of new growth by the end of May. We find the trimming and pruning of Photinia Red Robin Hedging is best in early Spring before the plants start growing again. Although it would be best to wait until any predictions of frost have finished. They can be cut again in the Summer and up to early Autumn when they start to shut down growing for the Winter. We tend to stop trimming them in September in case of any early frosts.

Photinia Red Robin Hedging plants can easily be trimmed using hedge trimmers. On the nursery we use hedge trimmers at first to get the majority of the trimming done. We then follow up with secateurs to tidy up and remove any shredded/ damaged leaves caused by the hedge trimmers. This reduces the chances of the plants getting any problems through the damaged leaves but also looks better and much tidier.

We would recommend feeding your Photinia Red Robin hedging at least once a year. We generally feed the plants 3 times a year after they are trimmed. We wait until the new growth begins to emerge then give them a top dress feed. We use slow releasing feeds such as ‘Growmore’, as they provide a steady release of nutrients over a longer period of time. On the nursery there is fertiliser added to the irrigation water so our Photinia get a feed right the way through the growing season. Using the little and often approach works well for Photinia plants.

Photinia Hedging plants will be happy in most reasonably fertile soils. However they will not tolerate waterlogged sites with very wet soils. Photinia prefer a hummus rich, moist but well drained soil. If your soil is poor then adding some plenty of organic matter, fresh topsoil, well-rotted garden compost will improve the soil structure and the plants should establish quicker and easier. Photinia Red Robin hedges will grow in full sun and partial shade, although they will grow quicker in full sun and with greater intensity of colour.

Photinia Red Robin hedging plants do require a little more maintenance in the early years to establish a well-covered and dense hedge. Frequent trimming in the early stages after planting is key to this. However, once the desired density of Photinia hedge is achieved the frequency of trimming can reduce to just maintenance trimming.

Photinia Red Robin hedges are usually tolerant of hard pruning. The best time for hard pruning in our experience is around May. If you prune too early then the new growth can be subjected to hard frosts and potential losses. Waiting until May should avoid the frosts and still give the plants plenty of growing time to recover and re-establish before the onset of Winter. We would normally follow any hard pruning with a spray with a general fungicide and a controlled feed at the emergence of the new shoots coming through.

On the whole Photinia Red Robin are very reliable plants and we don’t see many problems with them on the nursery. However, there are a few things we keep a look out for.

After trimming our Photinia Red Robin hedging plants, we keep an eye out for Aphids that are attracted to the tender young leaves coming through. Aphids are not normally a problem so long as numbers stay low. In the garden they can be controlled by spraying them with a jet of water from a hosepipe to keep numbers down.

We try and protect tender young leaves from exposure to hard frosts. As mentioned earlier, to do this we save any hard pruning of the plants until May.

We grow and sell a range of sizes of Photinia Red Robin Hedging Plants here on the nursery. Starting with our 10 litre pots at 60-80cm high and 80-100cm high. For more immediate impact, we also grow our Instant Photinia Red Robin Hedges in 90 Litre troughs. The instant Photinia hedges come in 1 metre lengths but do require 2 strong people to lift them.

All the Photinia Red Robin hedging plants that we sell are grown outside here on our nursery in Holmeswood, Lancashire producing robust plants that are quick to establish.