Photinia robusta

Photinia robusta is the large leaved, vigorous photinia grown as a quick evergreen screen. Every flush of new growth comes away bronze red and holds that colour for weeks before hardening to deep green, and because clipping triggers a fresh flush, these hedges get trimmed as much for colour as for shape. It carries foliage right down to the ground, takes hard cutting without sulking, and is planted where a boundary needs blocking out in a hurry rather than where a slow refined hedge is the goal.

Air, sun and leaf spot

Full sun to part shade, and the more sun and moving air the better. It grows in most soils that drain, tolerates lime, and wants regular water while young and only moderate water once established. For a hedge, plant in a single row at standard hedge spacing, roughly 60 to 80 centimetres between plants for a solid screen, and dig out the whole trench rather than individual holes so the roots run sideways into loosened ground.

The failure mode is Entomosporium leaf spot. In humid, still, coastal air the leaves develop red purple blotches and then drop from the base of the plant upwards until you are left with a hedge on bare legs. Robusta shrugs it off better than the smaller leaved Red Robin types, but no photinia is immune. Water at the roots rather than over the foliage, never with an overhead sprinkler in the evening, keep the base open to airflow, rake up and bin fallen leaves, and think twice before running a solid photinia row along a shaded, damp, windless fence line.

Robusta against a low Nandina border

If you are choosing between the red toned shrubs in this range, choose by scale. Photinia robusta is a screening plant that grows well above head height and needs a hedge trim two or three times a year to stay dense. Nandina Gulf Stream is the low one, a compact mound that keeps its shape with no shearing at all and colours as the nights cool rather than on every new flush. Use Robusta for the boundary and Gulf Stream in front of it. Where a native screen suits the site better, scarlet honey myrtle is an informal alternative for hot, sharply drained ground. See the full hedging range.

Clipping a photinia hedge for colour

Trim in early spring as growth starts, again in early summer, and once more in early autumn if it needs it, leaving time for the last flush to harden before the cold. Each cut brings a red flush, so frequent light trims give better colour than one hard annual cut. Small white flowers open in spring with a scent most people dislike, so time trims either side of them if that matters. Feed in early spring and again after the summer trim with a complete fertiliser, water it in well, and keep mulch along the row. Keep the base of the hedge slightly wider than the top so light still reaches the lower foliage.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 5 sizes, from 100mm Maxi up to 500mm, priced from $16.95 to $719.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to fast growing screening plants.