PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Photinia (Red Robin)
Photinia × fraseri 'Red Robin'
🌸 Flower
🔁 Perennial
An evergreen with glossy leaves and brilliant red new growth in spring — a classic colourful hedge or standard.
Growing Photinia (Red Robin): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well for the first summer, then in dry spells
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 1 m (60 cm for a hedge)
- Height
- 2–3 m
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- Balanced feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 7–9
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as it was in its pot, 1 m (60 cm for a hedge) apart, and firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
- 7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.
Every year
- MayTrim for Red Shoots
Trim new growth to keep it compact; it sends out a second flush of red shoots.
- AugustSecond Trim
A second light trim for another flush of red.
More flowers to grow
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
