'Carre Rouge' Photinia Hedge Plants

Photinia x fraseri 'Carre Rouge' Hedging Plants

Photinia 'Carre Rouge', AKA Mandarino, is set to become Britain's new favourite Photinia variety, overtaking the well known Red Robin.

There is nothing wrong with Red Robin, but there is a lot more right with Carre Rouge: brighter, longer lasting red leaf colour on a less vigorous, more compact and densely branched plant, ideal both as a hedge and an ornamental shrub. Less pruning work for more beauty: win-win.

As long as Photinia gets plenty of sun, the new foliage will be followed in late spring by branching clusters of little white flowers with pale purple stems. These become little round, red (inedible) fruit in autumn.
Suitable for formal garden hedges up to about 2.5 metres high.

Photinia is only delivered pot-grown, year round.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Browse our selection of garden shrubs or our full range of hedging.

Features

• Even Better Than Photinia Red Robin!
• Requires well drained site, but likes clay.
• Vigorous screening tree.
• Good for formal & informal hedges
• Shade tolerant, but colour is best in the sun.
• Grows on the coast.
• Species: Photinia x fraseri
• RHS Award of Garden Merit
• Max. Height: 2.5m
• Pot Grown: Year Round Delivery

Growing 'Carre Rouge' Photinia

It does need sun to flower well (and so produce berries) but will still grow well in quite shady spots at the back of a shrub border. It is not hardy enough for cold, exposed sites.
It will grow in just about any well-drained soil type. Heavy clay is alright if it is on a slope, ridge or other site that does not trap water; waterlogged roots will kill your plants and excess humidity in the air can cause unsightly leaf spot.

Give your plants a little trim in early spring to bring on a strong flush of bright young leaves. As these begin to lose their glow, lightly trim them again to encourage another wave; you can do this about three times a year, with the last trim in July. Regular trimming also helps to prevent leaf spot.
Always clean up the fallen leaves from under your plants.

Photinia has an upright growth habit, so it naturally holds its shape when used as a hedge plant. You can also grow it as a tree with a domed canopy, about 5 metres high.

Spacing a Photinia hedge: Plant at 2 plants per metre, 50cm apart.

'Carre Rouge' In Your Garden Design

If you want to take full advantage of those gorgeous young red leaves, plant in a place where they are backlit by the sun for at least part of the day. Its dense growth also makes an excellent garden screen and you can grow it as a standard if you want to make a pleached hedge. Standards work beautifully on either side of a doorway. Ornamental grasses and lavender look particularly good against photinia and spring bulbs such as crocuses or grape hyacinths, planted underneath make great companion plants. Euonymus are ideal shrubs to go with them as are hebes and glossy-leaved, pink-flowered camellia.