Bare stems on escallonia
I was so pleased with the escallonia Donard I was given earlier this year. It has been well-planted and kept watered. The yellowing on the leaves seemed to start after it had flowered profusely - and a lot fell off. I applied insecticide and now have a number of bare branches ....will they recover? I am loathe to cut them out ....
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Totally agree Verdun a good prune and it'll bush nicely.
I hacked mine down to the ground last summer, thinking I'd get my brother to dig the stump out for me, which never had time to do (!) One year on its 3 feet tall, two feet wide, thick and dense and has had a decent number of flowers on it all summer. I've learnt a lesson and will keep it trimmed into shape from now on to stop the tall straggly stems looking unsightly.
Thanks for the advice. I shall get the secateurs out tomorrow. This was a large size shrub when planted - and I didn't think about snails. Will it always have to be protected from them?
Thanks Verdun. I shall certainly be very vigilant next Spring. As there were so many lovely flowers (which obviously eventually turned brown) I think I missed the brown leaf issue.
My Escallonia has got leaf spot, it's been that way for a couple of years. I chopped about half back last summer, as it was completely brittle and dead, and the half that has remained is looking a little healthier but the lower half is bare. Whether the leaf spot had anything to do with the death of part of the shrub, or whether it is because it must be getting on a bit now (was here and fairly large when we moved in), I'm not sure. After reading this I've decided to give the whole thing a really hard prune, and if it doesn't recover well I'll probably cut my losses and replace with some dogwoods.