What is the minimum spacing you can use between plants in a hedge made of Photinia Red Robin? I want to be aggressive about this and I want to maximize the density of the hedge. I am willing to have the health of individual plants be sub optimal if that means the hedge overall will be denser.
'Red Robin' appears to be a variety within P. fraseri, about half the size of the usual 'Birmingham'. Since 'Birmingham' can grow 10-15 feet high and equally wide, that would make 'Red Robin' 5-7 feet high and again equally wide. Thus, I would not plant them closer than 3 feet apart.
If you want a really dense hedge, stagger them while maintaining a 3 foot spacing, as follows: x x x x
x x x x The rows are NOT 3 feet apart, and the shrubs are NOT 3 feet apart in each row. Instead, the first plant in the second row is 3 diagonal feet from the first plant in the first row; and the second plant in the first row is 3 diagonal feet from the first plant in the scond row; etc.
If you stagger them with the rows closer together x x x x x x x x the spacing in each row increases, requiring fewer shrubs for the length of hedge.
Since none of the Photinia look good if sheared, the informal appearance of a staggered hedge will complement the irregular growth of each shrub.
If spaced them very tightly - say one foot or less - what would happen? The roots would interact in a way that might kill the plant?
Thanks for the other ideas on aligning adjacent rows. But I do wonder in that case if you would end up starving one side of each row of sunlight.
It's patently obvious you shouldn't be gardening, you've no patience for plants to grow. Greater spacing between plants is *always* better for plant health than closer spacing... that's true for all plants... allow space for plants to attain their natural growth habit. Best to err on the side of more generous spacing.
Sorry but in the case of hedging this is not so. If you can still see the individual plants you have a row of plants not a hedge. Even in a generously spaced hedge each plant will be constrained to some extent by its neighbours due to root and light competition and if you pulled it out of that context it would look asymetrical and possible unattractive (especially if clipped some places and not others) but in context it is fine. It is absolutely true that greater spacing will allow plants to attain their natural habit but that is not relevant as the aim is to grow a *hedge* not a row of specimens. There is nothing wrong with each shrub not reaching its full size or natural shape if the whole lot are healthy.
To the OP: don't worry about Brooklyn he treats everybody as if they were foolish naughty children - don't take it personally.
D
Thank you for understanding the question.
So the issue is how to maximize the density of a Photinia hedge, NOT how to maximize the health of individual Photinia plants in that hedge.
Imbeciles...
If they are too crowded, they will not grow as full. Growth between them will die because of too much shade, shade from adjacent shrubs.
Spacing them 3 feet apart should allow sufficient sun for a continuous hedge. After all, 'Red Robin' only grows about 5 feet wide, leaving only about 2 feet of overlap. You do need some overlap to create a dense hedge. However, you might ask at a local nursery (not a lumber yard or hardware store) about spacing them 4 feet apart, leaving only 1 foot of overlap.
Hey, David, great .sig! I'm a dedicated Vote Smart supporter. They really ARE the best strictly non-partisan voter education outfit. Just the facts, ma'am - draw your own conclusions...
HB
I am starting to implement your idea here and it's a big win. Even though I will have to wait for additional height, the improvement in density is enormous and finally gives the feeling of a real hedge, not just a line of see-through plants.
Does this idea work for Oleander as well?
This would work for any informal hedge.
However, we should not plant oleander where I live (southern California). Some kind of blight has been killing oleanders from San Diego to Santa Barbara. I live between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and I already see oleanders dying in my community. One prediction is that 90% of the oleanders now growing in southern California will be dead within the next five years. See
I am very far north of that location, so hopefully my Oleanders have 10 years before that blight spreads.
1.5 meter height
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