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Photinia Red Robin hedge pruning advice
jamesharcourt
Posts: 465
Hi, I've planted basically 4 photinias (red robins) in a strip of bedding in my front garden area to make a hedge. I bought a big one first which I planted back in February (UK) which has established nicely and is thickening up. It was already about 5-6ft and now is a bit over 6ft and spreading wide without any pruning, but it was already fairly "bushy" at the start (although not thick).
I then bought 3 more which are thinner and younger, but the tallest branch is still nearly 5ft but nowhere near as thick at the base and not branching sideways so much, it's quite tall with 3 or 4 main branches which seem to just go straight up. I planted this about 3-4 weeks ago.
What do I need to do in the way of pruning to cultivate a similar shape on my newer, younger plants to get them to thicken up? I'm really not too sure about pruning and when / how to do it, where to cut etc.
Any help appreciated!!
I then bought 3 more which are thinner and younger, but the tallest branch is still nearly 5ft but nowhere near as thick at the base and not branching sideways so much, it's quite tall with 3 or 4 main branches which seem to just go straight up. I planted this about 3-4 weeks ago.
What do I need to do in the way of pruning to cultivate a similar shape on my newer, younger plants to get them to thicken up? I'm really not too sure about pruning and when / how to do it, where to cut etc.
Any help appreciated!!
0
Posts
Cut the big one to several inches below the height you eventually want and keep side shoots trimmed back to a neat, straight shape while the smaller ones catch up.
Photinia make lovely hedges.
1. I've put a picture below of the bush in particular ... you'll see the two or three really tall thin branches going vertically up. At the top are leaves ... should I trim those bits off?
2. I planted in the ground 3-4 weeks back, should I wait until later in the summer before doing any cutting?
3. You might see in the pic there are some weird low side branches that are kinda hanging down almost on the floor ... is it worth cutting those back do you think?
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