Photinia red robin spring or summer trim / prune 

Hi Debra - thanks for your comment It may depend where you are living, but if you are in the UK then a prune as soon as possible is probably best so t hat you have plenty of the growing season still left for the new growth to get going. Regarding feed ... again it may depend on where you are living, but I have been a long time fan of 'balanced feeds' with a high potash content, ideally slow release so that the nutrients are gradually released over the course of several months. I have been using Grow sure slow release for many years - it has worked well for me. I have just started using an organic alternative this spring 'Vitax Q4 plus' it has a simialr high potash balance of nutrients but also contains some 'magical' mycorrhizal fungi (they are friendly fungi that live in the soil and help the roots to absorb any nutrients.) Hope this helps / makes sense?

@@rogthegardener1 thanks for your quick reply! I'm in North East England, it has just been moved today into a wide raised bed. We gave it a little fish blood and bone mix. I will certainly look into the others you suggest. I also have a big tub of Growmore I bought with some potted bamboo, Holly and Bay trees. I'm a bit concerned that the landscape gardeners have planted the photinia too close to a cherry tree though! I will prune the photinia first and take it from there. Thanks very much for your help and advice 👍

@@debrawright9195 Fish blood and bone is quite good - I am not a huge fan of growmore ... ok if you are growing lettuce and cabbage - but can wash through the soil quickly.

Yep - it wont take long .. this years figs are swelling up nicely now . only a few more weeks methinks ....?

That's greats - thanks for your comment - enjoy your garden

Yes they have become a popular screening / hedging plant

@@rogthegardener1 Yup have some on the way… I’m using them and Skip cherry laurels to block the street at my house

@@natee2169 sounds like a good plan - enjoy!

Hi Patrick, thanks for your comment and excellent question ... its a dilemma we can easily relate to, do we sacrifice gains in height to build a bushy shape long term...? I would go for the prune - especially at this time of year - as the plant has plenty of time to put another flush of new growth shoots in a month or so and they will probably get as high as the other shoots you pruned back would have got to ... but you will have bushier growth as a result of your prune. In my experience a plants natural response to a spring prune is to put on lots of new growth so its a win win - worth feeding with a balanced fertilizer such as Grow sure slow release or Vitax Q4 plus assuming you are in the UK?

Hi, thanks for your comment - your English is excellent actually! There should be no problem giving it a trim this year (at this time of year) at any age, often they will cut them back on the nurseries where they grow them as young plants to make them bushy - hope this helps? Good luck and please let us know how you get on, thanks!

Hi, thanks for your comment, ours put on about 2-3 foot of new growth in the summer after the prune ... if it is autumn you may not get so much new growth until the spring as the plants starts to go more dormant over winter - hope this makes sense?

@@rogthegardener1 yayyy thank you, I am still on my amateur prune phase o:l). So I find it interesting to read and learn this total new universe. I am going to prune a little bit more my 2 year photinia x red robin. I am so excited to see how she will be shaping; the idea is to have more privacy by making it more dense with the pruning. I suppose I better keep away from the old wood and just touch in between the soft and just staying away of the hard parts, right? Thank you for replying and taking the time, success.

@@HeathifyMyLife Thanks for your comment, I think you are making wise plans, you can prune some shrubs back into the older wood sometimes, but there is perhaps more risk in doing that - so I think your plan is a good one - enjoy your garden !

Hi Carolina. Thanks for your comment, could probably trim them anytime from now until midsummer… I tend to let them have their first colourful flush of new red growth and then trim once the leaf colour starts fading towards green (only so that I can enjoy the red leaves fry a few weeks 😀) - does that make sense?

Re diseased branches that is a good principle to remove as soon as you see them if possible on any plant as it can reduce the chance of further infection, and can reduce the need for spraying with a fungicide/pesticide. Crossing branches / those growing towards the middle is more of an issue for Roses … and a few other plants such as some fruit trees … to be honest I don’t really consider it when pruning Photinias … for me it’s more about their overall shape… ok?

Lovely. Very useful advice and so much easier than having to remember when to prune them. When the red is gone, prune so you get more ;) (I have reminders on my phone so I know when to feed what, when to prune that... ). Thank you very much.

Hi, thanks for getting in touch I think you are referring to our trimmed variegated Privet (ligustrum) which we have trimmed into a ‘lollipop’ shape, looking like a small tree. Does that help?

Following

Good question, thank you. I have never cut the flowers off (to be honest I don't get many flowers as I keep on cutting them back to get more red new growth!) but here in the UK the flowers tend to appear in late spring so I would try giving the whole cut back as soon as the flowers finish to encourage new growth in summer and to give it as much time as possible for the new growth to ripen before the colder weather of autumn / winter. (The RHS suggest to not prune after July for the same reason) - I hope this helps?

Hi thanks for your comment, if you’re in the uk I wouldn’t trim them this time of year (as they may try to put on new growth in the winter-which is not good) I normally wait until early spring around March and give a good trim and feed then .. it can look like a step back initially but they will put on lots of new growth within a month or two, hope that helps? Please keep us posted, thanks

@@rogthegardener1 Thanks!

Oh dear ...!I would hope / expect that any bare stems at the now bare base will produce shoots from the dormant buds along the stems ... hopefully you will be able to see buds starting to swell by the end of march and new shoots starting later in spring ... I wold hope that you will have lots of bright red new growth at the base by June .. a top dressing of balanced fertlilizer such as a slow release granular or Fish Blood and bone will help encourage new growth ... Please keep us posted with any progress / good news!

I normally do ours in early spring before the plant starts it’s first flush of red new growth, or if it starts growing early spring then I let it put on its first flush of new growth and then as it fades from red to green (around late spring / early summer) I prune it then and enjoy a 2nd flush of bright red new growth in summer ! The thing to remember is that the plants natural response to a prune is to put on new growth so we don’t want to prune late in the season otherwise it may try to put on new shoots in winter when it should be dormant. Hope this helps?

Hi, thanks for your message, can I just check where you are living as this may affect my suggestions

@@rogthegardener1 I'm in south east uk.

@@jord2683 great ! I grew up in the south east (Kent) I like to use 6 month slow release fertiliser which you should be able to pick up from any decent garden centre. You could possibly add a little extra fertiliser to those plants at the end of the row to give them a boost? I would add some mulch (such as bark mulch) to the soil surface to hold in extra moisture. Now is a good time to prune, I assume the first early spring flush of red growth has finished and the leaves are starting to turn green ? By pruning asap any new growth that appears after the prune will have time to ripen / toughen up before winter. Does this help / make sense?

That's great yeah I'm in Kent. Ok I'll get some fertiliser and put it on, I've already got bark down on them all. Strange thing about the end 3 is although they are shorter and have a lot less leaves they are currently covered in flowers, far more than all the other ones. Not sure if that means anything? I'll give them all a prune then as yes the new red growth has faded to a dark copper sort of colour I'd say. Thanks again for your help.

So I've given them all a prune today. One thing I noticed is the three that are not doing so well are absolutely covered with flowers. It seems like pretty much all this year's growth so far has been flowers they are covered in them. I wondered is it a good Idea to take the flowers off as will they be taking a lot of energy from the plant?

Hi, thanks for your question. I have never trained one into a tree, but it should be quite easy to do. If you are looking for a traditional tree shape - with clear ‘bare’ stems at the base and a canopy of leaves at the top - then I would trim off any thin weak shoots and remove any leaves from ground level up to the height where you want to the leafy tree ‘canopy /top’ to start. All the energy will then go up to the top growth, and the top of the plant will grow more strongly to give you your tree shape after a year or two … you will probably need to continue to trim off any new shoots / leaves from lower down to keep the tree ‘shape’. One word of caution-whenever we prune plants like this there is a slight chance that disease can get in, or other problems. I have never had a problem with ours which I have now been pruning every year for about 15 years. I usually prune in spring which can reduce risk of any damage and encourages lots of fresh new growth at the ‘right time of year’ Hope this makes sense?

Their growth rate can depend on factors such as how much sun they get / soil conditions / nutrient levels .. you probably cant do much about the sun and soil so it might be worth adding a good balanced fertilizer such as Vitax Q4 (assuming you are in the UK?). Our grows up to 2 foot per year ... good luck with yours - keep us posted please!

They grow fast I heard

@@natee2169 They do!

Just remember to keep it pruned back .This makes it more dense,and less "leggy",and will give you more control of the shape .(if you don't prune them they are difficult to deal with later)I have some 50' hedges that are 8' tall,and very dense and lush,which provides me with the best privacy hedge that I've ever seen before .It only took 6-7 years to get to the 8' height, in an area with full sun .

@@babox8244 Thanks for your comment, thats great! enjoy your garden

Great choice of plant! I think they could tolerate a light trim already (they trim on the nurseries to make them bush out as young plants). It's up to you if they look quite bushy already, ... I think I would be tempted to trim if they are a bit 'leggy' or not very bushy ...does that make sense?

@@rogthegardener1 yeah that makes sense thank you for the quick response 👍

Hi Conor - thanks for getting in touch, I usually wait until March here in South Wales in case we get a February cold snap - where do you live?

Hi, good question! (Thanks) in my experience the black spots tend to be on older leaves and usually appear after harsh weather e.g in early spring after winter, so I just trim off the top leaves and shoots in early spring (in a similar way as shown in this video) and the the new growth quickly comes all fresh and red and healthy. That is my experience for the last 20 years with the plant in my garden here in Wales and it seems to match with what the RHS say about Photinia care on their comprehensive website .. But, there is alternative information out there on the internet (not sure if it is from other countries - maybe not in the UK?) who talk about a fungal disease causing spots and actually advise against summer pruning ... and suggest spraying with a fungicide to control the disease....sorry if that complicates your options? But can only really speak from my experience and have huge respect for what the RHS say ... is that OK?

Here's the RHS link www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/photinia/growing-guide

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. I will make sure we trim accordingly and apply fungicide if really needed after the season.

@@omairbadboy good plan!

Hi thanks for your comment - to be honest we do not have any deer in our area so cannot advise from experience, although looking online others seems to say that whilst not deer 'resistant' they are not that attractive to deer - some people say that deer seem to avoid them ion their gardens - whilst others say that have had some damage...sorry I cant be more exact in my answer, Roger

No it is not. At least not where I live in Texas, the deer love them here.

I think so, maybe not 'square' as they tend to develop a rounded shape but certainly some folks grow them as a nice hedge . PS my wife has just read my reply and said yes you can keep them square! (she likes squares ...maybe thats why she married me?!), but it may require slightly more trimming to keep the hedge square looking - OK?

@@rogthegardener1 thanks for getting back to me Roger. We are definitely contemplating going ahead with the Red Robin. We are abit new to all this so fingers crossed it comes out nice :)

@@karzolia8476 great! please keep us posted with your progress - its worth remembering that when planting any shrubs - but especially a feature like a hedge - that you only get one chance to plant so it is worth adding as much organic material to the soil and some fertilizer too - it can make a big difference to how your plants grow

@@rogthegardener1 looking at ur video again. Im assuming its not good practice to use a hedge trimmer to cut it back and shape it?

@@karzolia8476 Good question! I suspect that opinions will vary on this ... I do not use a hedge trimmer on ours, but we only have one of them. If we had a long hedge of them I might be more tempted, but I don't like the way hedge trimmers cut across large leaves leaving off cuts still on the plant so prefer to use secateurs ... that's my personal preference ...does that make sense?

You can prune now, I often wait until the first flush of new red growth has finished, but dont wait too long as you want the plant to put on new bushy growth in spring / early summer before autumn / winter arrive ( new growth going into winter is not so good) - hope this helps?

@@rogthegardener1 yes very helpful thank you.

Hey Janet - thanks for your comment, sorry the ads kept on popping up .. I am not sure why they some time do that and then other times they are just at the start of the video .. who knows how those algorithms work ...? Hope you can give us another chance - either way enjoy your garden!

@@rogthegardener1 Ignore her Thanks for your tips 😊

@@mandychadwick8762 Thanks!