Common Medlar Photinia fraseri 'Red Robin'

Its bright red leaf shoots above the shiny, evergreen foliage set extravagant accents in the spring garden. The red robin Photinia fraseri is one of the most popular ornamental trees in modern garden design. With its white panicles of flowers and red berries, the successful cultivation as a solitary and opaque hedge inspires. Are you interested in the professional care of this outstanding loquat? Then read this green guide, which brings all the important aspects to the point in a practical manner.

care

The red, apple-shaped fruits thrive in large numbers in autumn and adorn the loquat until late winter. The berries are poisonous and not suitable for consumption. The fruits, on the other hand, serve as a valuable source of food for the birds in the garden. The shrub does not lose leaves even in winter, so that it is available to small animals as a popular retreat.

Location

Successful maintenance is primarily based on the careful choice of location. The Asian Photinia fraseri is not naturally designed for a harsh Central European winter. The focus is therefore on a protected location, especially for gardens outside of mild wine-growing regions.

The ideal location has these framework conditions:

• sunny, shady to partially shaded location
• preferably with shade in the blazing sun in summer and winter
• warm and sheltered from the wind
• The influence of cold east and north winds makes the leaves brown

If you buy the ornamental wood for a shady location, the loquat wears its shiny green foliage. Since there is a lack of sufficient sunlight in regions with little light, the colorful leaf shoots, the flowers and the fruit decorations are only sparse.

Soil condition

As a shallow root, the shrub lacks deep-reaching root strands, which provide it with groundwater when it is dry, so that leaves fall off. A Photinia fraseri also loses leaves if the soil is too wet. Therefore, pay attention to the following criteria for the nature of the substrate.

• fresh-moist to moderately dry
• profound and with reliable drainage
• rich in humus and nutrients
• like loamy to sandy-loamy and loose

The extent to which the soil is structured slightly acidic, neutral or calcareous plays a subordinate role for Red Robin. As long as there are no extreme fluctuations in the acidic or alkaline direction, the wood turns out to be pleasantly tolerant.

plants

The best time to plant is in spring

With a view to the conditional winter hardiness, spring has emerged as the ideal planting time for Red Robin in gardening practice. Since winter hardiness only develops over time, young plants should not take their place in the bed in autumn. Ideally, choose a mild day in March / April, as soon as the soil temperature is constantly above 10 degrees Celsius. In regions with mild winter, however, nothing speaks against planting in autumn.

Plants in the bed

So that a Photinia fraseri can take root in the ground in good time after the winter, the crumb should be loose and free from weeds, old roots or stones. Tree nurseries and garden centers mainly offer Red Robin in containers with a dense root ball. Place the still potted plant in a bucket of water until no more air bubbles rise.

How to plant properly:

• dig a planting pit with 1.5 times the diameter of the root ball
• Add a third of ripe compost and horn shavings to the excavated material
• Position the potted plant in the middle of the pit so that the previous planting depth is maintained
• Drive a support rod into the ground in locations exposed to the wind
• press the earth down and water it thoroughly

The optimal planting distance for a hedge is 50 cm. So that the medallion loquat stands out perfectly as a solitary shrub, measure half the height of the plant as the distance to the neighboring plant. If you are planning to raise a Photinia fraseri to a standard stem, the minimum distance corresponds to half the crown diameter.

The same applies if you buy a ready-made high trunk from the nursery. As a rule, these tall trunks are 60 or 80 cm high and no longer gain height, whereas you can influence the volume of the crown with adequate pruning.

Plants in the tub

The cultivation of Red Robin in the bucket is only recommended if suitable winter quarters are available. As a substrate, please use high-quality potted plant soil, enriched with perlite, sand, fine grit or lava granules for good permeability. With a drainage made of pottery shards, the threat of waterlogging is effectively avoided. The minimum dimensions for the bucket should be 30x30x30 cm, ideally above.

to water

Casting with a sure instinct

The red robin loquat favors a soil with varying moisture levels. This requirement implies that the substrate should dry out between waterings so that no harmful waterlogging can develop. The younger the Photinia fraseri, the higher the water requirement. Please also bear in mind that rainwater does not always penetrate a dense hedge to the ground. Therefore, even in rainy seasons, check the substrate with a thumb test for its moisture content.

How to pour properly:

• water every 2 to 3 days for the first 6 weeks after planting
• then only water when the soil has dried 2 to 3 cm deep
• let the water run directly onto the root disc without puddling
• Avoid over-showering the leaves to prevent diseases

If you buy a loquat as a small high trunk in the bucket, the watering can is used more often. The soil dries out faster in the limited volume of substrate, especially on warm summer days.

Therefore, subject the substrate to a finger test every day in order to water in the early morning or late evening if necessary. The current water requirement is covered as soon as the first drops run out of the floor opening. As an evergreen ornamental wood, the Photinia fraseri evaporates moisture at any time of the year, so a good sip of water is advisable on dry, frost-free winter days.

Fertilize

Fertilize in a balanced way

The loquat reacts very well to an organic nutrient supply, thanks to the balanced combination of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. Natural fertilizers such as compost, horse manure, bark humus, horn shavings and guano promote the growth of leaves, flowers and fruits and strengthen disease resistance.

How to fertilize in an exemplary way:

• Organize monthly organic fertilization from the beginning / middle of March to the end of July / beginning of August
• lightly work the fertilizer into the soil and pour it in again
• From mid-August to mid-September, administer potassium-rich comfrey manure twice
• End the nutrient intake at the end of September

Alternatively, you can cover the nutritional requirements with an innovative Osmocote long-term fertilizer, consisting of coated fertilizer grains with a depot effect. Products such as Substral Osmocote Flowering Shrub Fertilizer are only incorporated into the soil in spring.

In the following 6 months, the mineral-organic fertilizer successively transfers the nutrients to the loquat without you having to re-fertilize. To strengthen the winter hardiness, Patentkali can also be administered in August / September or you shower the earth several times with comfrey liquid manure.

Cut

Problem-free pruning

As a solitary shrub or high trunk, you do not necessarily have to cut a medlar. With an annual growth of up to 40 cm, the wood then loses its compact growth form and loses leaves because the sun no longer gets into the interior of the shrub and crown. Since Red Robin is equipped with a robust cut tolerance, he forgives cut mistakes good-naturedly and compensates for them in the twinkling of an eye. An annual shape and maintenance cut is mandatory as a hedge.

How to cut properly:

• The best time for topiary is shortly after the end of the flowering period
• Cut back branches that are too long by no more than a third
• If necessary, a cut into the old wood is tolerated
• as a hedge, a trapezoidal cut with a broad base and a tapering crown
• In addition, thinning out the shrub or crown thoroughly in late winter

Since the berries are poisonous, it is best to cut off any withered flowers in the family garden. If there is no danger that the fruit will be consumed by humans in autumn, please do not cut out everything that has withered. The birds in the garden will thank you for maintaining the food source.

Overwinter

Wintering without damage requires precautions

If winter is at the garden gate, please pay attention to the following measures for the cold season. In the first 3 years of standing, a Photinia fraseri is very susceptible to frost damage. In later years the danger remains, especially for the splendid, red leaf shoots, even if an adult loquat is otherwise frost-resistant. These precautions create the best conditions for an intact winter storage.

• Before the onset of winter, pile up a thick layer of leaves and coniferous branches on the root disc
• Wrap breathable, translucent fleece around the shrub or crown
• Only remove the hood in spring when there is no more frost in the ground
• protect a high trunk from direct winter sun with bast mats
• if it is clear, water as soon as the soil thaws

In the bucket there is only a chance of wintering in the open air in mild wine-growing regions. At all other locations, please move your Photinia fraseri to a light, frost-free winter area in autumn. Don't forget to water it every now and then, because Red Robin loses leaves in winter drought stress.

Multiplication

Vegetative propagation promises identical offspring

As a hybrid, a Photinia fraseri Red Robin is not suitable for generative reproduction by sowing the seeds, which are also poisonous. It is impossible to predict which attributes of the two parent plants will prevail in a seedling. You can avoid this unpredictability by opting for vegetative propagation with cuttings or subsidence. Both methods are explained in more detail below.

Cuttings

As part of the pruning after the flowering period, you have access to an abundance of propagation material. All semi-woody, non-flowering branches are suitable for cutting. Since a very high failure rate can always be expected with Asian trees, cut one if possible Large numbers of head cuttings 10 to 15 cm long by using the scissors below a leaf knot apply.

It continues in this order:

• defoliate each cutting in the lower area
• Fill the growing pots with a mix of standard soil and sand in a ratio of 3: 1
• Place half to two thirds of the cuttings per pot in the soil and water
• Put a transparent hood over it with wooden sticks as a spacer

Please keep the potting soil constantly slightly moist in a warm, protected and partially shaded location. The hood is ventilated daily to prevent mold from forming. The cover can only be removed when fresh leaves emerge. Throughout the winter you can look after the young loquat in a bright window seat at temperatures around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. By the beginning of the planting season in spring, a strong root ball has developed so that you can plant the Photinia fraseri out.

Sinker

If you cultivate a loquat as a solitary shrub or hedge, the lowering method is an uncomplicated variant of vegetative propagation. In the spring, pull a shoot from the previous year to the ground, where you defoliate the middle part and dig 5 to 8 cm deep in a furrow, fixed with a stone or tent pegs.

Tie the tip of the shoot vertically to a wooden stick. A new root system had formed in the earth by autumn. Then separate the sinker from the mother plant and pot it. Throughout the winter you care for the offspring in the bright location in order to plant them in the bed in spring.

Diseases

At the right location and cared for in a species-appropriate manner, diseases rarely occur on a medlar. Leaf shedding is always a signal for drought stress, waterlogging or other neglect in maintenance. Wine-red spots on the foliage are also an indication of inadequate framework conditions. However, Photinia fraseri is not completely immune to disease. It is primarily fungal infections that can affect the wood. Symptoms and control methods are discussed in more detail below:

Apple scab

Classic symptoms are olive-green and black-brown spots on the leaves, which combine to form extensive necroses. The primary infection takes place in spring and does not spare young shoots either. The infection progresses rapidly, especially in warm and humid weather. Therefore, cut out infected parts of the plant rigorously. You can combat apple scab with fungicides based on difenoconazole, such as Duaxol Universal Mushroom-Free. Repeated injections have a preventive effect Horsetail broth and liverwort extract.

mildew

If there is a dirty white, floury coating on the leaves, you are mostly dealing with powdery mildew. This widespread fungal infection can be effectively contained in the early stages with a home remedy. First, cut off any infected shoots and leaves. Then spray the plant with a mixture of one liter of water and one eighth liter of fresh milk. Repeat this treatment until symptoms no longer appear.