Looking at how to thicken up a Photinia x Fraseri ‘red robin’ ?
I know getting your red robin “Beeutiful and bushy” can feel like you’re constantly at a dead end. But it’s as simple as pruning to spotting a disease.
After reading this you’ll know exactly how to restore your red robin to its full blooming self.
Now, let’s talk proof. It’s one thing to hear about these techniques, but it’s another to see their results. Below is a picture of my own Red Robin. This vibrant transformation is a testament to the effectiveness of these steps. By following this approach, your Photinia x Fraseri won’t just survive; it will thrive, becoming the radiant centerpiece of your garden.
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Quick Summary – How to Thicken a Red Robin.
A thriving red robin thrives on three key approaches.
- Eliminating potential diseases
- Providing the best nutrition
- Strategic pruning
This Photinia care unlocks an extreme transformation, leading to a noticeably thicker and healthier Red Robin.
Common Causes of Thin Photinia Red Robins
Red robins are rampant by nature, if yours is looking a little on the thin side, then there’s likely a problem such as:
- Pruning incorrectly
- A variety of diseases
- Sunlight exposure
- Weeding
- Soil Quality
- Mulching
- Appropriate Feeding
- Nutritional Needs
- Adequate Watering
In this article, we will cover all the ways to thicken up your red robin!
Step #1 – Regular Pruning Techniques
Pruning is the most common way of thickening your red robin. It encourages new shoots and a vivid growth that resulted in massive changes for me personally.
Always make sure your tools are clean and sharp before you start
Hedge Clippers (loopers)
The hedge clippers would be used for more precision. These manual cutters are a great way of reaching to the higher parts of the red robin. They are also useful for the larger stems as they cut though them easier.
I found the best loopers on amazon for the job and I wont use anything else. These are easy to clean and sharpen. Best thing is the sharpness of the blade doesn’t blunt easy.
Pruning Shears
Pruning shears are a great way to get to the closed off places as they are small and compact. These are also great for precision and dealing with the smaller stems.
I would recommend using this amazon product. I personally found it perfect for the job and the blade is so easy to clean. I have found out of all my pruning shears they have kept their sharpness the longest too.
Electric Hedge Trimmers
The electric hedge trimmers would be used when you have photinia hedges, as this would make the process quicker. The are used for larger areas. Using these would help you thicken up your red robin hedge.
Theres nothing worse than a wired electric trimmer so I found an electric trimmer that’s easy to handle on your own and no fear of cutting threw the wire or getting an extension out.
Early spring is the start of the pruning session when you will need to start the pruning cycle, then midsummer the red robin would have finished its first vivid growth where you will witness stunning red foliage, this is when you would need to start the pruning process again.
You may find you even get a second flush of stunning red foliage at the end of summer (maybe some flowers too).
You can prune your red robin twice a year. If left unpruned this could cause your plant to become leggy.
When pruning you need to take out the main leaf stem as this will encourage all the energy to go to other shoots and help them bush out. When cutting any stem make sure you do a nice clean cut and cut at an angle. The reason for this is so that any rainfall runs off the cut stem and doesn’t cause any rotting. If you don’t cut at an angle then water could sit on the stems causing then to rot. this would then cause you issues with your red robin later down the line.
Onto the stems you’re going to cut 15-20% off of each stem just above the node (where the leaf joins the stem) the node is where new shoots come from so you want to encourage more growth by cutting at the node. Make your red robin stems the same length while doing the shape you want to make sure that it grows into a wide bushy appearance.
Do the pruning stage little by little as it’s always good to take off too little rather than too much. In regards to pruning and damaging your red robin, as long as you don’t reduce the red robin’s size by over 50% it’s extremely difficult to damage or kill your plant while clipping or hard pruning.
When you are doing a pruning cycle in early spring this will promote new growth which will increase the boldness and stop it from growing taller and thinner. Instead this encourages your red robin grow fuller and even wider staying away from the thin red robin appearance. If your wondering how to thicken up red robin hedge you would use the same techniques. Pruning all around the hedge from top to bottom, creating the shape you would like.
When you are pruning the red robin dont worry about cutting off the red foliage as these will re-shoot and grow back in its next growing cycle. Pruning is all about getting the shape you want and to stop your red robin from being thin. We have an easy to train shrub here! Just make sure you keep on top of the pruning cycle as the red robin can grow vigorously keeping it under control is required.
The older the shrub gets the more woodier it will look so this is ideally when you would go to the hard pruning cycle as this will increase vigor in the plant.
The hard pruning cycle is done once a year in early spring. Wait until your red robin is 3 years old for any hard pruning. You should stick to maintenance pruning to keep the red robin in shape. Delaying the hard pruning allows the red robin to become settled and get into its cycle correctly. Maintenance shrub training is great in the long run as you will achieve the outcome you are wanting staying away from the spindly red robin. Once the red robin has reached maturity around 3 years old it can cope with any kind of pruning.
If you are unsure on how old your red robin is then I would personally wait until the red robin is 1.2 meter tall and equally as wide before any type of pruning.
If you do come across any diseases while pruning then you need to make sure that you cure your red robin as soon as possible.
Pruning a healthy red robin will promote new shoots and start giving you the fullerlook. If your plant isn’t at full health then pruning on its own won’t give you the outcome you want.
Step #2 – Clearing Up Diseases
Disease that happen with your plant can affect how thin its looking keeping a regular check on this and making sure your plant has the correct air circulation is important.
Leaf Spot or Rust Disease is a common issue that many gardeners have to face with the red robin. The spots that appear will be visible on the leaves on the upper and lower surface of new and old leaves.
Leaf spots will be yellow or brown in color, whereas rust will be reddish or orange. They are also surrounded by a red or purple ring. These will eventually grow into large marron patches on the more affected areas.
To treat leaf spot or rust you need to act quickly, as this could result in the whole red robin being affected. Remove the leaves with the disease and burn them to prevent the spread of the leaf spot or rust.
(Always make sure you take extra care and use safety precautions when burning anything in your garden always use a burning bin).
If you have a persistent problem with leaf spot or rust take note where the fungus keeps growing. In this case you can use an effective fungicide every 14-21 days when the conditions are prone for infection. Apply 3-4 sprays of an approved fungicide on all leaf and stems that have been affected. (Ideally you would be wanting a systemic fungicide)
Start at the bud break and continue to apply on regular occasions until the weather becomes dry. The wetter the weather conditions the more likely your red robin will catch the disease. I usually check over my red robin at the pruning stage.
One thing you can do to prevent any leaf spot or rust is to give your red robin a hard prune in the springtime (if it’s of age to do so). This will give your red robin enough time to recover before the summer months.
Fireblight Bacterial Disease affects the leaves, Stems and fruit of the red robin. They will turn brown or black. Looking like they have been scorched which will include all new shoots that appear to look scorched too.
A clear indication to know if you’re dealing with fireblight would be a light brown or reddish liquid coming out of the affected area like the trunk, stem, leaf or fruit.
The way we would treat this disease would be to prune away any area we find thats affected. Making sure that you cut enough away to eliminate the chances of the disease spreading. I personally prune all the scorched looking leaves.
After this you could apply a copper fungicide to make sure that the remaining leaves are protected and kept healthy. You are wanting to spray your red robin every 7-10 days. Ideally making sure the weather conditions are dry for at least 12 hours after application.
Powdery Mildew is also another fungal disease but this one has an appearance of white powdery patches. This is formed on the leaves and stems. If you leave this untreated the fungal infection can spread more. The leaves, fruit and then the small shoots and buds can become infected.
Ways you can tell your red robin has powdery mildew is you can see leaf curling twisting, or turning yellow. Spotting this then you have caught the disease in its early stages as the white powdery patches come a little late on.
.This fungal disease will cause damage to your red robin which we really want to prevent with this “Beeutiful” plant. To treat the powdery mildew you can use a range of treatments including home remedies too.
Make sure you have dry weather conditions when applying all solutions.
Milk Spray
Make this spray up of 40% milk and 60% water in a spray bottle. Spray the affected areas every 10-14 days
Sulfur or Copper-Based Fungicide
This shop bought product is great for prevention of the infection. This needs to be sprayed on all plant parts and repeated every 7-10 days up until time of pruning.
Baking Soda
This method has been said to be the best home remedy. For this you use 1 tablespoon of baking soda ½ a teaspoon of liquid soap then mix this with 4.5 liters of water. Once transferred into a spray bottle you can then spray the tops and undersides of the affected leaves. Any other affected areas of the red robin can also be sprayed. This method is also known to be a good way to treat existing powdery mildew fungus too. Repeat this every 7-10 days.
Root rot Known as honey fungus affects the roots of your red robin. It starts off by spreading underground and attacking the roots which will eventually kill them. The main cause for root rot is the quality of your soil and drainage.
Root rot symptoms include stems becoming wilted and leaves becoming yellow in color. This indicates that the root system is under threat and needs attention. The ways you can treat and prevent root rot in the future is to make sure that your soil drainage is improved. If you have issues with drainage then watering can become more irregular and a watering schedule can be put in place. Over watering can cause the root rot to start.
So a correct schedule for watering is essential for your red robin to be healthy and strong.
What could cause frost and wind damage is cold exposed and damp locations where the red robin is planted. Frost can cause a lot of damage to your red robin leading to issues like wilting of leaves and flowers, also your red robin can become discolored. Frost damage becomes harmful to your new shoots as they haven’t reached maturity. A good fact about the red robin is its hardiness, it can cope with temperatures from -5 degrees to around -10 degrees. with this being said the red robin can still be effected and damaged by the frost.
To try and avoid frost and wind damage you can make sure you place your red robin in a sheltered position in your gardens to prevent the winds getting to it. If your evergreen potted you could transport it to a greenhouse to protect it in the winter months. If you can’t protect and don’t have a greenhouse then don’t worry as this isn’t an impact on the red robin in the long term it’s just more an eyesore for your garden.
As soon as the frost and wind has disappeared and your garden has thawed out then be sure to prune your red robin. Take away any affected leaves and branches, as this will then prepare your red robin for the next growing season. Frost and wind cant be helped but we can make sure we help once the weather conditions have cleared up.
Air circulation is a common issue when gardeners plant their shrub. It’s essential you make sure your plant has the correct circulation. The reason for this is so we can try and avoid any diseases and the area inside the canopy stays nice and dry.
To avoid this you would need to make sure your plant isn’t backed into a corner. Doesn’t have dense plants around it. Don’t worry if your planting them to create a hedge the will quickly fill out. So you wont have spaces in between each shrub for long.
Weeding is an important part of keeping on top of your red robin. You must ensure you keep the area around the base of your red robin as clean as possible. This means any weeds that sprout or any grass that forms needs to be removed. Any leaves that fall from your red robin need to be cleaned and moved from the area. This can stop any diseases from spreading as dead leaves could still be carrying the fungus. The advice for this would be to place and weeds or dead leaves in a burning bin to stop any chance of a disease that you have managed to cure to spread again.
Step #3 – Pest Control
There are pests to look out for when caring for your red robin, some are harmful and some are harmless. It’s good to know which ones are going to cause your red robin issues.
Mites One of the harmful pests. They attach to your red robin and suck out all the nutrients from your leaves. Then resulting in them becoming discolored and turning into a yellow color.
To get rid of the mites you could use a solution like neem oil. The mites have to be present when you apply this solution.
The need for oil works by disturbing how the mites feed and potentially suffocating them too. Not only is the neem oil good for the mites. This can also prevent any other diseases from forming like black spot and powdery mildew.
I know there are a range of different neem oils about for a range of different things. Here is a link to the one I use and have found to benefit me with the occasional gardening issues.
Scale insects are quite harmful to your red robin as they go after the nutrients in your leaves too. The difference with these though is they can leave honeydew on your plant which will then attract ants and aphids. As stated above honeydew is part of a fungal disease so this will then turn into a more serious case.
The scale insects have a hard shell so this does in fact protect them from the use of insecticides. In this case you would need to apply twice as much as you would for the mites.
If you wanted to use the neem oil this can also be effective. This would do the same as it does for mites. It suffocates them which is ideal to get rid of this pest and avoid honeydew.
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Green aphids These are harmful to your red robin, what they do is start by attacking your newly grown shoots and buds. This is a disadvantage because these are the shoots you are needing to protect to create a fuller, less spindly red robin. If they attack your new shoots then this will give you a thin red robin. Ideally you are wanting to eliminate these as soon as you see them. You can use potassium soap and neem oil or even get a pesticide spray to sort out these insects. Just keep in mind with any sprays you use always follow the instructions. Ensure you are using the sprays safely and correctly.
Vine weevil pests like to come out at night and are viable in summer months. They eat through your leaves, buds and roots making them weaker and potentially causing major damage to the overall health. To stop these you can use a biopesticide as this contains the correct ingredients to control the vine weevil. It infects them with bacteria. This will then stop the pest from feeding on your red robin. This will also stop your plant from getting holes in its leaves and its roots getting destroyed.
Did you know?
It doesn’t really matter what soil type you use, you just have to make sure that you are correct with the pH level. (It must be rich in humus and fertile) I’m aware there are some heavy clay soils, so for the clay to match the recommended pH level you would need to make this up with half compost too!
Step #4 – Improving Soil Quality
You have to make sure that your evergreen has the perfect soil quality. It is important to make sure you plant your shrub in the correct drainage areas too. If you are able to give your Photinia the correct Soil quality and you place it away from poor drainage areas, then you will sure be on the way to owning a thick red robin.
To check your soil and its pH level you would need to purchase a pH testing kit.
Once you have the kit it is a quick and easy process to find out your pH level. This would usually include taking a sample of your soil 4-6 inches below your red robin and placing 1-3 tablespoons into your test tube. Then adding distilled water, agitating the soil and waiting the recommended time before draining out the water from the soil. You can then use a pH test strip to determine what pH level your soil is.. (Instructions will be included with your kit)
Ideally you want your soil to be a pH of 6.5-7.5. This would be perfect and it would maximize its nutrition.
You’re recommended to do a soil pH test after 4 weeks as this could mean you have to make small adjustments to its environment.
There are a range of pH testing kits that I have tried in my gardening experience, rather than going for the electronic kind I still with the manual one. I get my testing strips from amazon. I have found these to be the best ones to date to help me with the correct pH levels.
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In regards to planting you want to make sure you stay away from poor drainage areas as this could cause root rot which would then end with your red robin dying which we really don’t want do we!
When planting, if you are wanting to show off each individual plant then i would recommend spacing out each specimen plant 2-4 ft apart to show off its full bloom display. Planting them closer together would eventually create a border hedge, but they do require more plants to create the perfect border.
The soil needs to be moist but free draining as this is the best moisture conditions for your plant. You can also plant the red robin in anything that is neutral or acidic, the red robin tends to not thrive in alkaline conditions.
When making sure that your soil is correct for your red robin you could also add mulching around the bottom . This would keep the soil moisture correct and it wont dry out quickly in summer. The mulching process would also improve the weeding process.
I would personally use the organic kind of mulch as over time it does break down and feeds your red robin with more nutrients. To give your red robin more nutrients you could add compost under the mulching to give it that extra boost.
I would add just enough mulch to cover the ground under your red robin so there isn’t any gaps visible from the soil.
You can get mulch from anywhere but with me having two little green thumbed helpers delivery is one thing I prefer. I go to amazon for my mulch not only is it high quality and lasts a long time in comparison to others, but the delivery is really ideal for a big product.
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Step #5 – Appropriate Nutrition
A red robin needs three main chemicals when it comes down to fertilising these are:
Ideally red robins shouldn’t need to be fertilised if their soil has all its nutritional needs, but in some cases they do need that extra hand in receiving them. Fertiliser should be used at the beginning of every spring and winter. If you were to fertilise your red robin in the late summer this would increase the hardness of the red robin, which would then give it the helping hand it needs in the winter months.
When fertilising your red robin in the early spring this will give your photinia the extra fuel which will then promote new shoots and leaves to grow. When you fertilise your younger red robin this helps them to develop strong roots, meaning more nutrition can be taken in by the plant. Which means one thing, You will start to see an improvement with the thickness of your red robin. I will no longer be looking leggy.
Fish, blood & bone could be something that you head towards. For soil improvement and fertiliser. One handful is roughly 35g.
For young red robins you would need 2 handfuls and you would usually dig this into the ground before planting as this would give you the best outcome.
Established Red robins would need 4-5 handfuls of blood,bones,fish. This would then need to be sprinkled around the base of your red robin then you would need to water it for the best outcome.
I have found the Fish,blood & bones to be my go to for fertiliser I always head to amazon for the best value for my money.
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Soil improver doing this stage would require you to use 3-4 handfuls which would then need to be forked in to produce a nutrient soil.
Growmore fertilizer is also another go too form for fertilising your red robin. This will last around 2 months after application.
Generally you would need to add around 50g per m2 on the soil and lightly hoe or fork the fertiliser into the soil. Making sure you water before and after application for maximum effect. You can do this process every 4-6 weeks until the end of October.
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This one isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but, manure is a great go to fertiliser for your plant as it does include all the nutrient content needed to stop your shrub looking leggy.
During a red robin’s first 2 years for each specimen, you would generally need to fertilise twice a year in Spring and then Autumn to help with growth and nutrition. As fertilising promotes heathy growth throughout the plant, this would be the best outcome.
If we are willing to put the time and effort into your photinia from the very first day you shouldn’t run into many issues along the way. Training this shrub from the start and giving it the perfect conditions to thrive in will give you a beautiful think red robin. An evergreen to be constantly proud of.
Step #6 – Adequate Watering
The last thing to consider when your red robin is on the thin side and you’re wanting to know how to thicken it up would be adequate watering. This is critical for any plant but especially the red robin, as over watering can cause your red robin to get root rot.
If your red robin is new to your garden the first 2 years are when you need to concentrate on the watering process, by making sure the area never gets dry (using a watering schedule). Watering in dry spells is essential I make sure I water my new shrub at least once a week, I also check to see if the first 5cm of the soil is dry. If it is then that’s when I would water my plant. If the soil is still moist then I would just keep an eye on the soil conditions and water when dry.
This is an example of what I would personally note down for my watering schedule when I’m tying to achieve the best outcome with my new or potted plant:
When your red robin has reached maturity then you will only need to water it in prolonged drought scenarios. Meaning that if we were to have a very dry summer and not much rainfall you would have to consider giving your red robin an extra hand when it comes to watering, as it doesn’t cope well in dry situations. Dry conditions could lead to your red robin lacking in nutrients and looking on the thin side.
To make sure your red robin doesn’t look thin you would need to keep an eye on the condition of its watering needs and assist where necessary. Just be careful you don’t over water your red robin.
Any water will be fine to use for your red robin, I usually use rain water that i’ve collected in my water butt. Just make sure the supply comes from a gutter and it drains down to floor level where your water butt is. You can easily install on into your gardens too.
Alternatively you can always get your hose pipe or watering can out and give it that well needed drink, I would recommend using a hose pipe spray gun for the hose pipe, and make sure your watering can has a head on it, as this will make the watering process equal and you will less likely over water your red robin.
Overall Photinia problems are easy to overcome with the correct care and treatment. It does take time to get your dream shrub, but once you have achieved this you will want it to take centre stage in any social gatherings. You will just be overwhelmed with happiness. The best part for me, is sitting in my garden with a cuppa and taking in the view. Dont worry about going threw the spindly red robin stage as this is only temporary until she blooms!
