Meet the Photinia Red Robin, a vibrant shrub that adds year-round charm to your garden!
This beautiful shrub will give you a master centerpiece for your garden all year round. Not only does it have stunningly vibrant leaves it also creates clusters of creamy flowers followed by Christmas red berries that the wildlife will love.
This versatile shrub loves the sun and partial shade, making it adaptable to any situation it’s in. The red robin is low maintenance and can grow on its own or made into a hedge. It even attracts wildlife to your gardens.
While it is prone to diseases a light prune regularly will help clear these up before they start.
So if you’re looking to add a vivid colour and a wildlife-friendly shrub to your garden then a photinia red robin is perfect for this.
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Quick Summary- Red robins plants.
The Red Robin, or Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’, is a shrub that starts off small and thin but can be made thicker and bushier once established.
A vibrant evergreen shrub known for its stunning fiery red new leaves that mature into a glossy green.
It offers year-round interest with creamy white flowers in spring and festive red berries in winter, attracting playful butterflies and birds.
While low-maintenance once established, it requires regular pruning to stay tidy and occasional pest control. Remember, its tempting berries are for the birds only!
Overall, the Red Robin adds color, cheer, and wildlife to your garden, making it a popular choice for many.
Photinia x Fraseri ‘Red Robin’
Do you love red foliage? Then the red robin is your go-to photinia! This increasingly popular shrub stuns everyone with its fury red leaves in the spring and summer seasons.
The fun doesn’t end there … A light prune when your colour of leaves fades from red to green will encourage a burst of new crimson shoots.
You’re able to keep the vivid colour in your garden all summer long. This will be on a shrub your neighbors will be jealous of!
A photinia red robin is an ornamental shrub or tree that is perfect for hedging or screening in your gardens. This beautiful addition to your garden has new crimson red shoots, which later turn into a glossy forest green colour.
It also boasts a stunning bouquet of small creamy white flowers, while later they turn into a Christmas red berry. Which is perfect for the wildlife that the photinia red tip attracts to your garden. This evergreen shrub commonly known as a Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’.
I personally love the Photinia as it gives my garden that burst of colour and it’s always the main attraction at family get-togethers.
A red robin is a shortened name for a Photinia x Fraser I ‘Red Robin’. Many people also call it a red-tip photinia or even a Christmas berry photinia.
The Christmas berry name was applied for many years and this would be the name that people would use when referring to this beautiful evergreen. It always has its shiny foliage all year round.
I call it a red robin as this is what it reminds me of with its stunning crimson foliage. There are a range of different photinias that you may come across:
Photinia serratifolia – This evergreen is a Chinese hawthorn although it is very similar to the photinia red robin it does have its differences.
The new growth is more of a bronze with a hint of purple to it, then turning into the forest green glossy foliage.
Photinia x Fraseri pink marble – The pink marble is honestly one of my favorites. This again is similar to the red robin but its foliage has a stunning pink marble effect to its leaves in the spring season. Before it turns to the glossy green leaves.
Photinia serratifolia Pink Crispy – Pink crispy photinia is similar to the pink marble but instead of having the marble effect of pinks and reds. This photinia has eye-catching pink leaves that come to life in the spring.
Overall there are around 50-60 different types of photinias with their unique differences. They are all from the Rosaceae family so they are quite similar, but their differences are something that makes each one stand out for different reasons.
The photinia x fraseri is a hybrid between two came from two species of photinias:
- Photinia serratifolia – This Photinia originally comes from Asia and China. Known for its forest green leaves, which can vary from pink greens and reds. Then followed by its beautiful creamy white bouquet.
- Photinia glabra- This photinia is native to North America. Its features are somewhat the same as the serrulata. Instead its leaves are a dull forest green and the bouquet of creamy flowers appears to be smaller.
The serratifolia and glabra crossed naturally resulting in the formation of the red robin seedlings which gave the combined characteristics. Now everyone has made this shrub a popular garden requirement. With its vivid leaves, its beautiful way of growing, and how easy it is to train into the design you want.
The photinia red robin does indeed have a beautiful bouquet of creamy white flowers. I wouldn’t say the photinia flowers have a very nice smell so I wouldn’t advise this to be a plant you go to for a nice smelling garden for the summertime.
The flowers will start to bloom after the crimson-red foliage. They only appear if you hang fire with your pruning in the summer. After this, they then turn into a bunch of Christmas red berries.
A photinia red robin should be planted around autumn and springtime. This is to make sure the ground isn’t frozen and waterlogged.
Doing this will also give your photinia the best chance of getting established with its environment. Which will give it the boost it needs to grow and bloom.
The overall look of the photinia is one of the reasons it’s become more popular over the years. It gives you that extra edge to your gardens with the crimson red leaves.
The cycle of the red robin from shoots to berries is just an amazing experience of whiteness. I always make sure I witness the full cycle before I do my prunes.
With this shrub being on a large scale it’s always catching people’s eyes. I always get compliments and asked questions on how I keep it looking lush throughout the year.
The red robin stands out from the crowd and gives you that splash of colour your gardens need in the summertime.
Just imagine you sitting in your garden with your photinias red leaves catching the sunset. It’s breathtaking and something I would consider to achieve in your gardens.
Wildlife Attraction
This shrub is a wildlife attraction they love it. From butterflies to birds, you will see them all. The best part about this is they are attracted at different times.
The butterflies love the bouquet of creamy white flowers while the birds love the Christmas red berries.
When I have finished gardening for the day is sit down with a cuppa and take in the rest of the day. I watch the wildlife flying between the leaves, and the birds eating the berries.
This gives me a sense of achievement as I know I’m not only trying to get my garden the best I can but while doing this I’m helping the wildlife and giving them something to enjoy too.
Overall I believe the red robin is one of the best shrubs to go to to spruce up your gardens. It is beautiful not only that it attracts wildlife into your garden for all the family to enjoy.
Advantages of having a red-robin hedge.
There are many advantages to having a red robin in your garden. These are a beautiful shrub that not only brings a splash of colour to your landscape but it also attracts wildlife.
For me, I have found the red robin to be an amazing addition to my garden and it’s something that keeps my garden looking good all year round.
One of the main reasons I love the red robin is because it looks amazing in every season. I especially love its Crimson red leaves that shoot in the spring after pruning. They do stand out in any garden and catch everyone’s eyes.
I do love the fact you can plant it on its own or partner it up with more photinias to create a stunning hedge to give you that little privacy in your garden. Its also grown as a tree, growing to around 3m high.
If you want to leave the pruning cycle a little longer you will experience a beautiful burst of creamy white flowers followed by Christmas berries.
These are something you want to experience as this is what brings the wildlife to your gardens for you to sit and enjoy.
This plant is very low maintenance with it only really needing to be pruned once a year to keep the growth under control. The photinia red robin doesn’t need much watering either to keep it thriving. Just make sure the soil is kept moist and never dries out. This allows the plant to establish itself for the first year of its growing life.
If you are wanting your photinia to grow quicker and it’s over the age of 1 year, then you can do more frequent prunes to allow more crimson red shoots. This shrub is one of the easiest to keep alive with the correct care and surroundings.
I find it easy to take care of as its requirements don’t need to be strictly stuck too. All I do is make sure I do my prunes in the spring and wait for its beautiful flowers and berries. If I do get a few branches that have grown out of line then I will prune them to keep them in order.
I tend to give it a little fertiliser and water throughout the summer to help keep the soil moist. I find that mulching is a great benefit to keeping the soil moist in the summer seasons.
Another amazing advantage about the red robin is that it can grow in a range of weather conditions and you can plant it almost everywhere. It copes well with full sun or partial shade. No matter the contact with the sun it will grow the same.
The crimson red leaves grow brighter with the more sun they get, but if your photinia is only in the sun half of the day this isn’t anything to worry about. It still grows great!
This shrub can be planted anywhere as long as the soil is free-draining and doesn’t get water-logged. You can plant in pots or on the ground. It will grow amazing in both.
I have a photinia in a pot and the ground and they both thrive just as much as each other. Another amazing fact about the photinia is it deals great with frost as low as -15 degrees and it’s tolerant to pollution. So it’s a cold winter and there’s a lot of pollution around where you live, there’s no need to worry as the red robin will be just fine.
The photinia x feriser is a great choice if you like your privacy around your home. Whether that be in your front garden to stop people looking at your house, or your back garden when you’re out in summer enjoying the sun.
This is a perfect shrub that can create the most stunning screening. Its dense foliage allows you to create great privacy for your home allowing you to feel at ease.
I love the red robin hedges around the garden. This allows me to get the privacy I desire and know my children and animals are safe while they play.
Another good quality of the Photinia red robin is in fact that it’s an evergreen shrub. What this means is that you will experience Glossy forest green leaves all year round, while in the spring you will witness the crimson red leaves.
I do like the way the red robin comes across as it gives you a variety of different styles through its cycle from red to green leaves followed by creamy flowers and red berries. This is why a photinia is one of my favorite shrubs, as it’s always going to stand out from the crowd.
I would say it’s also perfect to have a hedge around your garden too as you won’t ever have to worry about the leaves falling and your hedge looking bare in the winter months. Privacy and security will stay all year.
- Great pollinators
- Low maintenance once established
- Can cope with frost well
- Thrives in sun or partial shade
- You can plant it almost everywhere
What does a photinia like?
A photinia red robin likes to be well-established in its environment with the correct care. You need to take time and care when you decide where to plant your red robin.
Make sure the soil is also rich in humus and fertile. This can be done with fertiliser and can also be checked with a pH soil testing kit.
The evergreen also likes the sun or partial shade. The reason why I love to give my photinia plenty of sun is because it enhances its stunning red foliage. If you were to plant it in the shade then the leaves won’t grow as vivid and they would be more of a lighter red colour closer to orange. So giving your photinia the sun benefits those beautiful crimson-red leaves.
Disadvantages of having a red-robin bushes.
There are many advantages of having a red robin shrub but this does also come with a few disadvantages i have come across while owing one.
The photinia red robin can grow to an outstanding size of around 7 metre high and can stretch to around 3 metre in width.
This does make it perfect for a range of things but it is at a disadvantage if it needs pruning. This is because you would need to not only purchase the essential gardening equipment for this but you would struggle to get the task done on your own.
You really would need someone to help you with ladders if you want to keep the pruning process neat and keep yourself safe.
I don’t let my red robins get to this extreme size as I prefer to be able to manage them on my own and at a height I can cope with while both feet are on the floor. I just feel more in control this way when I’m pruning.
This one could be a disadvantage to some but to others, it might not be an issue as we all love to be out in our gardens making them look beautiful.
This plant does require a minimum of one prune a year to keep it under control. If you wanted your photinia to have the shape and size that you desire then you would need to prune at least twice a year. This can be time-consuming so you need to make sure that you have the time and effort for the photinia.
I always make sure I give my photinia a prune twice a year and then a tidy-up trim throughout just to keep it at its best. I generally spend around 2 hours making sure that I get my photinia how I want it. The hard prunes at the end of the year do take me a little longer as I need to plan out what I’m doing.
So when considering getting a photinia just take the time and effort into consideration if you are wanting it to be a desired look and size. Don’t let this hit you off though as eventually it will be low maintenance once you have it the way you want it. Always keep on top of your hedge trim as they can grow wild too.
- Prone to attract shrub pests like Vinewheevil
- Known to contract bacterial diseases like leave spot and fireblight
- Regular pruning for new red growth, size, and shape control
What does a photinia Dislike?
Make sure the soil is also rich in humus and fertile. This can be done with fertiliser and can also be checked with a pH soil testing kit.
The evergreen also likes the sun or partial shade. If you were to plant it in the shade then the leaves won’t grow as vivid and they would be more of a lighter red colour closer to orange. So giving your photinia the sun it likes is ideal for those beautiful crimson-red leaves.
Even though it can withhold temperatures below -10 degrees, it’s not a fan of the cold weather. Late frosts can damage your newly formed shoots of red foliage, which can be quite upsetting with the time and effort you put into this shrub.
What I tend to do is make sure I don’t prune when the frost is set to come as this protects my shrub from being damaged. I also make sure once the winter is over I give it extra care with watering, feeding, and pruning. This will give it the boost it needs to thrive in the spring and summer months.
Concerns around the Photina ‘red robin’
Every gardener has concerns, right?
There are a few things you could be asking in regards to the Photinia before you decide to purchase one.
Below I have a list of questions I asked myself before I decided to go down the Photinia route in my garden so I would like to share them with you.
The answer is no you don’t have to be an experienced gardener to have a red robin.
Everyone believes you have to be experienced to look after a Photinia with it being such a large shrub with many issues you can face. I was far from experienced when I got my first photinia.
The best thing about this shrub is you learn along the way. We all have those oops moments but that’s how we learn.
The photinia is one of the easy to care for shrubs. Yes, it does take a while for you to understand its needs but once you know its requirements it comes naturally and you do it without even thinking.
You will then also be able to sort out any issues that come your way to give your red robin the best chance to thrive and bloom.
There’s no need to worry, A photinia doesn’t have invasive roots in comparison to other shrubs. The root system is well-behaved, so there’s usually no concern in regards to any structural damage or close by plants being damaged by them.
Even though the root system is well behaved I would advise you plant the photnia around 8 feet away from any structures just to give you that extra feel of security.
The roots of a photinia stay within the top 12 inches of your soil. If you were to let your soil conditions dry out then they could expand to find the moisture, but with the correct watering schedule, this wouldn’t have to be an issue.
They typically only spread as wide as the canopy. So you can have a rough idea of where the roofs are when you take a look at your photinia With the roots also being on the thinner side they genuinely don’t take over the garden.
If you were to figure out your overgrown photinia had taken over the garden then the roots would be pretty easy to control and remove if needed.
Some varieties of photinias are indeed toxic. This is down to what it contains, and how this affects your body when consumed.
The photinia contains cyanogenic glycosides that turn to cyanide once it’s eaten. So you need to avoid eating photinia. The berries it grows too aren’t edible for human consumption so please leave these for the wildlife to enjoy.
In regards to the shrub being poisonous to dogs, Dogs Trust doesn’t list the photinia as being toxic to dogs. It is however recommended to seek veterinary advice if you do witness your dog eating the shrub just to give them a check-over and make sure that everything is good and well.
The photinia x fraseri is classed as the less toxic variety of photinia as it contains lower levels of cyanogenic glycosides but it is recommended to always keep an eye on your children and pests as consumed in large amounts could cause major issues.
Always seek the advice of a doctor or vet if you come across consumption issue.
The major issue for some with the photinia is the leaf and pest problems that are proven for bacterial diseases and fungi.
Keeping an eye on the state of your red robin’s leaves and roots is something that needs to be done to ensure your plant is as healthy as it can be.
The pests are also an issue when it comes to the summer months as they are attracted to the photinia.
There is no need to worry in regards to this though as there are cures and home remedies you can use to clear up these issues.
I always keep an eye on the state of my red robin to catch these pests and diseases early on to stop them from spreading and destroying my healthy red robin. If you were to leave the issues untreated then you would suffer the consequences of your red robin turning leggy and losing all thickness.
So ideally to keep your red robin thick and thriving, treat it as soon as you notice any changes.
The Red Robin doesn’t need to be cared for because it’s an extremely low-maintenance shrub. For the first year, you will need to keep on top of the correct procedure for it to become well-established.
- Watering requirements– always keep your soil moist this is mainly important when your photinia is younger. When dry spells come then give your photinia a good drink.
- Sunlight – The photinia loves full or partial shade regardless of what it receives it will thrive in both.
- Soil quality – Soil type isn’t so much an issue for the photinia it does thrive in the correct pH level. Garden compost can create the perfect mixture. Make sure you don’t have a water-logged area too as the red robins don’t cope well under these circumstances.
- Nutritional requirements– Fertiliser isn’t necessarily needed when you have a photinia. What I do is after every prune I give it that extra boost with new mulch and fertliser.
- Pruning Requirements – pruning is essential for keeping your Photinia neat. This also helps with getting your red robin thicker and less leggy. This can also improve your tapered trunk and create the perfect strong structure for the windy times of the year. Pruning also eliminates diseases that you can come across so even though it’s not required it’s advised to do as it keeps everything about the red robin healthy. Weeds are also something you need to control and keep away from your borders.
Keeping photinia in pots is one of the ways you can keep it under control. They can thrive just as well in pots and you can move the pot anywhere in your garden.
You need to make sure you get the correct size pot to give your photinia enough room to thrive. Also, make sure your pot has a drainage hole to prevent water logging.
You can add rocks in the bottom of your pot too to help with drainage. You can use any pots you like as they both have benefits for the photinia.
- Clay pots– even though these are heavy to move around. They offer good drainage and give your plant enough space for circulation.
- Plastic pots– these are a lot easier to move around your garden they also keep moisture better than clay pots.
The disadvantage of pot planting a photinia is it will require more watering as the pot can only hold in so much moisture in comparison to the ground soil. You wouldn’t be able to create a hedge shape or create the hedging shrubs you may want.
Overall making sure you have the correct pot is essential when planting your photinia. Keep in mind you need to future-proof the roots and make sure the pot is at a depth to accommodate these. This will minimize root damage in the long term.
Repotting every 2-3 years will be ideal for this shrub.
Doing this will also give your shrub an extra nutritional boost to Bloom.
I love my potted photinia as I can give it the requirements it needs . I don’t have to worry about overgrowth as it will only grow to the size of the pot so it’s very manageable in my garden.
