It’s coming up to spring and you want to prune your red robin. Do you know exactly how to prune? When to start? Know what to use?
In this article, I will be covering everything to do with the importance of the pruning process of the Photinia ‘Red Robin’. I have some amazing tips and tricks to help you on your pruning journey.
Let’s grab our gloves and pruning shears and head into the garden.
We’re going to be the best pruner in town!
Quick Summary – How to Prune a Red Robin.
Preparation for pruning
The correct preparation is essential when it comes toprune season. We need to make sure that we have:
- Assessed the state of the shrub or tree’s overall health, checking for any issues like diseases or pests .
- Take a look at your photinia plants and make sure you know which areas need the pruning attention.
- Make sure your shrub or tree is of age for the right pruning techniques.
- Scope out the leader stems in case we need to stump the height.
- Make sure you have the correct equipment.
- Check your pruning equipment is clean and sharp for a guaranteed clean cut.
- Have enough time to do the full pruning process.
Pruning preparation is extremely important to detect any underlying issue with your photinia. It is also important so you have a good idea of how and where you need to prune. This will decrease the risk of you pruning incorrectly and potentially cutting too much off your tree or shrub.
The Ultimate Guide to Pruning
We all want to be the best pruner in town, don’t we? I have the best step-by-step guide to help you along the way. Lets go into depth with how you can prune your red robin to receive the best outcome. I will be covering areas like:
- What pruning tools you need and how to clean them
- When to Prune
- Where and How
- Why do we prune
- Aftercare Tips
- Understanding the Photinia ‘Red Robin’
There will also be tips and techniques along the way to enhance your skills, meaning you will be able to prune through your garden and never doubt yourself again.
Best pruning equipment to use
Finding the best pruning tools is essential when it comes to cutting your evergreen. You need to make sure that they reach the needs required. The thickness of stems needs to be accounted for mainly as there are different tools to guarantee that nice clean cut.
Long-reach pruner
If you are on your own in the garden and you don’t have support for you to use a ladder safely. Then a pole pruner is a great way of getting to those hard-to-reach places. With its extendable arm, it can reach as high as 3.5m depending on which one you purchase. This is perfect for your photinia red robin tree.
The benefit of the long-reach pole pruner is it’s great at thinning out the canopy to let adequate light in. It also helps with shortening stems and creating a less dense appearance. Most importantly reaching the higher areas of your red robin and pruning efficiently will decrease the risk of any diseases forming.
Unfortunately, there are disadvantages to this product, the longer the pole reaches the harder it is to have full control of how you are pruning. For example, when cutting at a diagonal you can’t guarantee you will always manage to achieve that. You could also experience stems getting in the way of where you’re wanting to prune.
Overall I would advise using the long-reach pruner only if pruning is in a hard-to-reach area. As with the Red Robin, you want to have full control over the process to get the desired outcome.
For the gardening looper this is used to prune thicker branches mainly as it can be operated with two hands and more force can be applied. They are usually around 12 inches and 36 inches long. With them being the size they are they do give a good leverage for cutting stems on your red robin shrubs.
You can even buy extendable ones to cover higher areas, and increase the leverage overall. The disadvantage of this product is sometimes you may experience it crushing the stems rather than giving you that nice clean cut.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way around this but if you stick to only cutting branches that are around 2 inches thick no more, then you shouldn’t experience this.
I love using the loopers for the larger stems while it still gives me the control and precision that I require.
Pruning shears and secateurs are extremely precise with the way they cut and how you can handle them. With them being on a smaller scale you can get up close to each stem you want to cut. They also give you that precision when you are cutting at the leaf node when you want your red robin to re-shoot with new growth.
Using the trimming tool you can easily see where you are cutting and what angle you are cutting at. It’s extremely important to keep an eye on the angle you are cutting with your specimen shrub as you don’t want water to sit on the stems causing it to rot. So keeping your cuts angled will prevent any damage to the stems. Always make sure they have been cleaned and are sharp for a nice clean cut.
The disadvantage to this tool would be the amount of time it would take you if you had a larger shrub to maintain. This tool doesn’t cut through the larger stems so this is when you would have to resort to something like the loopers. You could also experience a little pain in your palm from the pressure being used to cut a large amount of stems.
Overall I genuinely use the shears as my go-to tool for pruning as I like to put effort and time into the appearance of my red robin. I have found that this tool is great too for controlling the thickness of your red robin, keeping it bushy, and staying away from the leggy effect.
The Pruning saw isn’t something that’s used for the red robin as it’s for the thicker woods. On a rare occasion, you could experience a thick stem that requires pruning. If none of your essential pruning tools can cut through the thick stem of your red robin then your go-to would be the pruning saw.
This would be something you use before heading to a chainsaw. It’s extremely easy to use moving it backwards and forwards in the same place to create that clean cut. The disadvantage to this tool would be the fact you sometimes experience an unclean cut when pruning. This could result in damaging your red robin. I don’t use the pruning saw for the red robin as the stems are easy to cut through and don’t require much force.
Topiary Shears are perfect for the finer detail and upkeep when it comes to pruning. If you have a few leaves or stems that need a little tidying up then these will do the trick. They are used like scissors pushing the blades together with the handle. You can get the shape you want from your red robin with this gardening tool.
You can easily trim leaves and stems that are sticking out making your red robin look fuller in shape and giving it that beautiful pruning appearance.
The disadvantage to this tool is it can only really be used for tidying up the shrubs, it’s not used for any hard pruning.
My advice for this would be if you are wanting a certain shape to take place from pruning then this would be something I would head towards. I have used them to give my red robin a round appearance while keeping it looking clean and tidy.
I have used them to give my red robin a round appearance while keeping it looking clean and tidy.
In regards to electric hedge trimmers, They come in a range of different styles from electric to petrol for example.
The advantage of using these for pruning would be when you have a large hedge to prune. This would become very handy as there is too much to cover using hand shears alone.
The disadvantage to using the hedge trimmers would be the amount of control you lose. Accuracy for pruning decreases and there is room for slip-up. For example, there is too much room for error, you could take too much from your photinia hedge causing it to reduce in size by more than 50%.
If this was to happen this could damage your red robin and cause you to be left with a thin red robin shrub. In terms of the electric trimmer, I would only recommend this to be an option if you are covering a large area in your gardens, like hedges or screening. If you only have a little shrub and tree then I would highly recommend taking your time with the pruning process and getting everything exactly how you want.
Protective pruning gloves are a must-have product when you are in your gardens. They come in a range of styles and materials.
Rubber gloves – these are especially good for garden and pruning use as they are waterproof and easy to keep clean. The disadvantage of the rubber gloves is the fact the material is not breathable. This means at the end of your pruning session your hands may be a little wet and clammy from sweating. Sometimes they do leave a little smell too.
Long material pruning gloves – the long material pruning gloves are ideal for protecting your hands and arms from hard pruning with any shrub.
I have noticed the red robin leaves have little spikes on them when they are newly formed. Even though the photinias leaves are mostly smooth the odd occasion you do experience a little prick to the hand.
The longer material is great not only for protecting your hands but your whole arm too. The material is breathable so your hands won’t sweat. They are also heavy-duty meaning they are puncture-proof and protect you from thorns. They also give you the extra padding that’s required for your fingertips and palms.
A disadvantage is even though they are puncture-proof and protect you from the thorns you do sometimes experience thorns getting through the gloves and giving you a little shock. Majority of the time though they are very good at protecting you.
Overall gloves are essential to add to your gardening essentials as not only do they protect you from thorns they keep your hands clean. If any bacteria or bugs are found when pruning then the gloves give you that extra safety barrier. They also give you comfort to be safe when dealing with fertiliser. Keeping you away from anything toxic. We always need to make sure once we have finished in the garden we give our hands a good wash even if they look clean.
Use clean pruning shears
The first step we need to take would be making sure our equipment is clean. The reason for this is to prevent any diseases from spreading to other parts of your evergreen.
The one-handed pruning shears would ideally be the best choice when it comes to pruning. They cut through branches easily with good precision too. Areas that have been trimmed with damaged leaves with leaf spots, can to be sanitized to prevent the spread.
Doing this will not only expand the life of your tools but it will also expand the life of your photinia keeping it away from disease spread. I know photinia isn’t prone to constantly catching diseases but it is a great idea to prevent this even more. How we can do this would be after every pruning session
Cleaning Steps:
- clean our shears with rubbing alcohol.
- wash the dirt and grime off with hot water and soap
- leaving them to soak for around 20 minutes.
- rinse them off
- dry them
- hang them up for the next time we want to use them.
When to prune
Finding when to prune is the hard part, you don’t want to start too soon or too early. Missing the golden opportunity to prune could result in your red robin becoming leggy, leading it to not flourish with its stunning foliage. You also don’t want your tree taper to become an issue either. As this could cause the trunk to snap in the wind. Don’t worry I have you covered.
The best season to prune would ideally be at the end of March to the start of April. This would encourage spring trim flowering and new shoots of bright red foliage. Which then will continue until early summer. This would be a light prune to enhance your red robin through the coming months. The photinia can deal with shape and size control prunings throughout the growing seasons. Which I find outstanding as you can keep it under control throughout the year.
Late May to the middle of June is when you could do another light prune. This would ideally be after you have witnessed the bloom of red foliage turn into its beautiful smooth green color. Doing this would essentially promote a second bloom of the crimson red foliage, leading you to the end of summer. Avoid pruning until late winter after this. If you were to prune going into the winter months this would make your shrub vulnerable to the frost, leading to frost damage.
Around late winter or early spring (January – March) is when you would be advised to do your hard prune. Make sure the frosty weather has come to an end. This prune would be to disregard any problem branches that might have caught leaf spots or been damaged by the wind and frost. While also promoting new shoots to start growing. Please keep in mind that photinias trees shouldn’t be pruned when they are dormant. Keeping to an appropriate schedule and pruning at the same time each year will maximize the chances of a healthy red robin, which will turn into a beautiful bushy shrub catching everyone’s eyes.
Hard pruning is done once a year only if it is required usually a spring trimming. The reason for this is that you will be taking a large amount from your evergreen to maximize its growth throughout spring and summer.
Doing this will encourage all the nutrients to go to the correct places and give your photinia hedges the boost they need. The best time to do your hard prune would be before the new growth starts in late winter or early spring.
If you have noticed your evergreen is getting out of control then a hard prune would be something you should do. Doing this in March will give it plenty of time to grow vigorously, preventing your red robin from having that empty-looking appearance in the bloom season.
It is advised to prune any damaged and diseased leaves and stems while also thinning out the canopy to help with air circulation, and giving your photinia shrubs extra light in the crowded areas.
If you are new to having a photinia red robin then you should know when it’s the best time to prune. You should wait until your plant is around a year old for any shape pruning to take place.
I know you just want to dive in and get the perfect shape from the start, but pruning too early could end badly for the photinia. I do recommended to trim off any problem leaves and branches, for example, leaves affected by diseases or dead branches.
Doing this will give your photinia a nutritional boost ready for it to be shaped. So doing this when issues are spotted is beneficial for your shrub’s health.
Bzzzzz! Over Here…
Did you know!
You should avoid pruning around September-December as the new growth stimulation begins, which can be affected by the winter’s rough weather.
Likewise, try to avoid pruning in hot and dry weather, as pruning these plants in such rough conditions might slow the healing process of the plant and restrict its growth.
Where and How
Knowing how and where to prune is something that is easy to get your head around once you have experienced it firsthand. Ideally, you need to prune your red robin twice a year.
How we do this is by making sure we have the correct preparations in place taking a look at your evergreen to establish the problem areas. Once you have decided how you want to prune and for what reason then you can start.
You could be wanting to prune to shape, keep it under control, or prevent diseases. All of which will come into consideration when you’re taking a look at your shrub. You have to make sure your tools are clean and sharp before you start too.
When you start pruning you need to take cuttings from the node which will enhance new vivid growth. Make sure you cut your stems at an angle, as this stops any water from gathering on the stem and causing it to rot.
You always have to make sure that you prune at the node. This is for all types of pruning, pruning at the node is aimed at enhancing your shrub’s colors and growth. If you don’t cut at the node this can result in the whole branch rotting and causing your cultivars problems later on down the line.
To find the node you would have to do a quick inspection, to understand where it is. What you need to look for is the new leaves that have formed. Put your finger on the branch next to the newly formed stem, then follow it until you connect with the other branches. You should feel a little lump where these connect. The place where the branches connect is the node. This is where you cut at an angle for pruning.
This will then release a boost of nutrition into your red robin creating its blooming cycle to start. If you have buds that are facing away from the red robin then these would have to be cut a little differently. Still giving it that angled cut but pruning just above the node. Doing this will give dormant buds a chance to shoot into their own stems. Meaning they will grow away from the center of your shrub allowing plenty of light and air to circulate throughout the photinia.
This will help in the long run as you won’t have to thin out the canopy to allow air and light in. Pruning with only pruning shears, you can get the exact precision that’s needed.
Doing this with electric trimmers doesn’t give you the precise trimming that’s required and could cause problems for your photinia like rotting.
The frequency of pruning does depend on what you are wanting from your photinia. Its advised to prune twice a year for maximum growth. The issue with doing this is it can take a few years to achieve the shape and size you are wanting.
The photinia can cope with many little prunes throughout the spring and summer months. This means you will be able to get your desired shape and size quickly. If you stay away from pruning in the winter then you won’t create any problems for your spring and summer prunes.
Ideally, when you want to get your desired shape and size you want to wait until the red foliage has turned green then into a dull copper color to start the shaping and size control process. This typically takes around 6 weeks into a new blooming cycle.
If your photinia is on the old side and very overgrown, then it’s very well established with its environment. With this being said your shrub will cope with a hard prune. Cutting back to its framework and thinning out any tangled areas.
This will give it that overall boost in becoming the size and shape that you require. A hard prune should only be done once a year if it’s required, typically you want to stick with the soft prune if you can.
Keeping a good eye on your red tip photinia and its stems is a crucial part of its development. Not many people realize that it is another essential part of pruning. The risk you could face if you don’t look after them is your tree could become weak around the diameter of the trunk.
This could cause your robins to bow and eventually snap. You could add a slight upward taper width to the red robin.
The benefits of doing this would be it creates a strong base for your photinia hedge, tree, or bush. This allows the correct amount of sunlight and air circulation to hit the leaves and stems. This will play a massive role in ensuring that your red tip photinia is strong and healthy.
How you can do this would be to allocate the red robin tree branches just above the thin part of its trunk. Working from bottom to top as the bottom needs to be wider in diameter than the top. Pruning the whole red robin but leaving the branches you’ve allocated near the thin part.
Once you have done the prune for the whole photinia red tip and left the branches, the shrub will increase the flow of nutrients allowing the tapering process to begin. This will eventually create a strong trunk and leave your red robin standing in the wind while supporting your canopy.
If this process is not done then a gust of wind could come and cause your trunks to snap meaning there would be no comeback for your photinia.
Identifying and removing diseases is a simple process that can take around 10 days. Persistence is key when you have a disease to deal with. Pinpointing the issue and stomping it out as soon as you recognise it is a crucial part of disease prevention.
The issue doesn’t usually lay with the stem tips as they are the new shoots. The issue usually lies with the older foliage. The fungus grows on your leaves, which can even be caused by pests.
Photinia leaf spot is the most common disease. To remove the photinia leaf spot fungus you would have to treat it with the sprays after you have pruned all the infected areas away. This looks like spots that are circled with a purple ring. There are a range of other diseases and treatments you can spot.
Take a look at Thickening Red Robin for more information on diseases. Removing weeds from the bed of your photinia too while you place mulch is advised to keep your photinia hedge thriving. The mulch over time decomposes and gives your shrub even more nutrients.
Why Do You Prune
Pruning is one aspect of gardening that is to be done to ensure your trees, hedges, and shrubs are maintained. It’s like going to the hairdresser for a haircut. We have our dead ends cut off to stop dry ends, the same thing applies to your shrubs.
Cutting off their dead ends increases new lush growth, and stops the leggy effect. There are a number of advantages and reasons as to why we gardeners need to prune.
Interior purposes – We need to make sure the interior of your photinia is kept on top of. This is to create the right balance of light and air circulation, which will give your inner branches the exposure they need for healthy growth.
Tip trimming – Trimming the tip of your red robin will encourage new shoots of crimson red leaves. Which is the main characteristic of the red robin so we love to witness this.
Removing diseases – Pruning for disease control is so effective, this prevents any fungus from becoming problematic and deadly to your shrubs. Pruning is even essential after winter frosts have hit.
Prevent overgrown situations – avoid overgrown red robins by pruning at least twice a year. You want to do this as this shrub is known for its rapid growth so keeping it under control means you will never have to eliminate more than 50% of its structure.
Shape and height maintenance – pruning keeps height and bush shape consistent throughout the year. You can create the shape and height you want very easily by maintaining your pruning schedule.
Thickening for vivid growth and foliage colours – Everyone wants a thicker red robin, There’s nothing worse than it looking on the leggy side. Pruning is an effective way to thicken it up and get that desired look after, and witness its beautiful colours.
Propagating New Cuttings for Additional Shrubs- after you have finished pruning you can take a look at the stems you have cut. Sometimes you have a stem quality that is right to propagate. This is an advantage to you if you require more red robins for the perfect hedge or screening.
Overall pruning is really the most beneficial way to keep your photinia in great health. It also keeps it away from diseases and pests too. It can take time to do the whole process but in the long term, it’s always going to be something you’re glad you did.
Having the correct tools for the job will also make it easier to accomplish too.
The advantage of your last pruning cycle in or around autumn winter time is you might not have to cut away a lot, it could just need a little tidy ready for the winter. So keeping on top of the cycle will eventually mean just a tidy-up twice a year.
On the other hand, if you were to neglect your photinia then you would risk having to prune up to 50% of it away to get it back to how you want. This would mean you would have to let it vividly grow again before you can prune again.
If you have the perfect red robin now, I would keep on top of it. I know it’s an easy-to-train shrub but it can also get out of control very quickly which will result in you having to start again with your desired shape, height, and thickness.
Aftercare tips
The aftercare for your Photinia red robin is pretty simple really.
After you have done your pruning cycle you will need to give your photinia a little more TLC to finish it off. This includes:
- Watering– a generous amount of water to keep the soil moist while giving it the help it needs to recover from its pruning.
- Feeding – giving your photinia some fertiliser after pruning will give it the extra nutrients it needs , to be able to grow its new shoots and crimson red foliage. Allowing it to promote healthy growth throughout.
- Mulching– mulching is a great way to help control weeds and keep the soil moist. Eventually, the mulch will break down and give your photinia a little extra nutrients.
Understanding the ‘Red Robin’
When it comes to the photinia red robin you must understand the plant and its needs. Firstly make sure you identify the style for example tree or shrub. Secondly, having a good indication of how old your evergreen is. Lastly, take a closer look at its characteristics and its beautiful foliage colors.
The red robin is easy to identify, even from a distance. It is known for its vivid red color foliage and Its beautiful white flowers that bloom in summer. This Shrub or tree is used as a beautiful ornamental centerpiece in many people’s gardens.
It can be used as a standalone or you can even create a perfect hedge full of new red foliage, which then turns to a dark green with a glossy effect.
Identifying a tree from a shrub is quite easy as it would be from a normal tree and shrub. The trees stand tall having a long stem on the bottom while filling out on the top to create a bushy effect. The shrubs leaves are from the ground upwards and this is why they are perfect to create hedges with.
The evergreen has a brilliant life span of around 50 years taking it around 12 years to mature fully. Leaves on the other hand don’t last as long as the tree; they can range from 18 months to 2 years before they take a fall onto the ground.
This is also why it is such an easy-to-train shrub in terms of shaping and getting it how you want. There could be times when your evergreen foliage looks as if it’s dying. With the correct care pruning and fertiliser, your red robin will be the talk of the town.
Fertilising and pruning are two ways you can keep on top of its appearance. Giving it the correct light too will give it that potential and more energy to grow new shoots.
The photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ has some of the most beautiful characteristics. With these, you can easily identify if your evergreen is a red robin.
They are a perfect ornamental shrub and tree in any garden and they will take Center stage when they are in full bloom. No matter how you plant it, for example, as a hedge or a specimen, it will thrive in any situation.
It is best known for its vivid new shoots of red foliage, its smooth forest green leaves that are visible all year round, and its stunning white cluster of flowers. The flowers grow like a beautiful bouquet, and each flower consists of 5 petals. So you can imagine how full they make your red robin look.
They then later turn into red berries. The advantage of the berries is that you may get a few little visitors into your garden. Thrushes, Waxwings, and Starlings are the three main birds that love the photinias berries. This also helps the birds throughout winter giving them the food they need in the cold months.
A fully mature red robin can grow extremely large so maintenance pruning is always something you need to consider. It takes around 10-20 years for the evergreen to reach full maturity and grow to its full range. Specimen trees can grow as high as 6 feet high and can spread as wide as 2-4 meters long.
One thing that stands out for me about this shrub is its hardiness. How it copes in freezing conditions. Temperatures can get as low as -12°C without significantly affecting the evergreen. It can even drop by another 2-3 degrees.
The hardiness of this plant is outstanding. It’s always a good idea to keep it in a slightly protected area to reduce wind and frost damage. If that isn’t possible then don’t worry it’s only advised but not essential.
The Photinia loves direct sunlight and rich moist soil. Making sure you create the perfect environment and pruning schedule for your red robin will guarantee the most outstanding results with vivid crimson and forest green foliage and its beautiful white flowers and Christmas berries.
Conclusion
So let’s wrap this up with some main points you can take away and put into action in your gardens!
Key Points
- Be prepared
- Evaluate your red robins needs
- Educate yourself with equipment
- Use a clean angled cut
- Treat and eliminate diseases
- Interior needs light and air circulation exposure
- Fertilise for nutrition
- Understand your trunk
- Look after your tools
- Be aware of when to prune and when not to prune
- Leave your photinia alone in winter
- Optimal times for different pruning techniques
- Optimize your time for pruning
- Mulching around the bottom of your photinia
Taking all these key points into consideration when you prune will give you confidence that your photinia will thrive with bursts of color, stunning white flowers, and red berries.
The Beeutiul Bloom actions will leave you feeling relieved and satisfied with the outcome of your shrubs. This low-maintenance shrub comes in a few photinia varieties, but this pruning guide will help you with them all!
