Photinia × fraseri 'Red Robin'
photinia
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: most fertile, well-drained soils
- Rate of growth: average to fast growing
- Flowering period: April and May
- Hardiness: frost hardy (needs winter protection)
To find out more about how to plant a hedge, click here
With its parrot-red, glossy young foliage, and large, rounded heads of ivory flowers, this versatile evergreen shrub is deservedly popular. It colours up best in full sun, and will usually only flower in sunny conditions, although it makes a handsome background evergreen shrub in partial shade, too. It can cope with hard pruning, so can be trimmed to form an informal hedge or clipped into strong shapes. The flowers appear in mid and late spring, and are sometimes followed by spherical red fruit. In frost-prone areas, train as a wall shrub against a south or west-facing wall. - Garden care: To encourage a profusion of bright young leaves in late-spring or summer shorten the stems of established specimens by up to 15cm (6in), to just above an outward-facing bud. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted garden compost or manure around the base of the plant in early spring.
Pieris 'Forest Flame'
lily-of-the-valley shrub
Evergreen shrub for acid soil with red young foliage
Choisya × dewitteana 'Aztec Pearl'
Mexican orange blossom
Pretty evergreen foliage and fragrant flowers
Exochorda × macrantha 'The Bride'
pearl bush
Beautiful and extraordinarily abundant flowers
How to control diseases
Prevention is better than cure with diseases in the garden so keep your plants growing as strongly as possible – allowing them to fight off infections naturally. A weak plant is much more likely to fall prey than a good,...
Read full articleHow to create a wildlife-friendly garden
An organic garden should also be a wildlife-friendly garden. Not only is it wonderful to see nature at work, but many creatures will help you achieve better results. The ponds in my garden act as a magnet to dragonflies and...
Read full articleHoney fungus
Symptoms There are different symptoms which point to honey fungus, some or all of them may be present at one time. Also, death can take years or be virtually instantaneous with plants being suddenly stopped in their tracks, half-opened leaves just...
Read full articleApril pruning of trees, shrubs and
climbers
Many shrubs, trees and climbers are showing signs of growth and so it is an ideal time to check them over for winter damage. If you feel they need a little care and attention, here are a few notes to...
Read full articlePlanting a hedge
Hedges by their very nature are often planted in exposed positions, so the secret of successful establishment is to make sure that they are well protected from prevailing winds for the first few years. Careful planting and covering the surface...
Read full article
Evergreen shrub with glossy leaves and robin-red new shoots that top every stem by spring - the best background for small blue bulbs
Val Bourne - Garden Writer