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What's this shrub and when can I cut it back?

Stephanie newish gardenerStephanie newish gardener Posts: 455
in Plants

Hello

Can anyone tell me what this shrub is please?  It is evergreen and has little pink flowers on it which appear a couple of times a year.  I need to cut it back but want to know the best time to do it - watching out for nests of course!

Thanks

image

image

Posts

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,233

    Looks like Escallonia sp.

    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • BiljeBilje Posts: 738

    Can't help with pruning advice but I think the shrub might be Escallonia.

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,233

    RHS advice is to prune AFTER flowering.

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=352

    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489

    You can cut it half way back at the end of February and remove old stems to the base.

    I pruned mine twice a year to maintain the size I wanted.

    SW Scotland
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713

    Yes, we prune ours back twice a year too. Preferably not when birds may be nesting in it, but July and September/October come to mind. However Joyce's advice seems very logical too - we have to cut ours June/July and September by law if they are overgrown and along the roadside.

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,750

    Might I suggest it's E. macrantha. Difficult to tell from the photos. 

    I find if you crush the leaves of E.macrantha, they have a slight smell of pineapple. But that might just be my nose..

    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 50,310

    I thought Escallonia at first, but something didn't look quite right for that.

    Not familiar with Eucryphia, Hosta, but the slightly serrated leaves look right. I'm only vaguely familair with the white one.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,348

    I agree Escallonia macrantha. Bees and butterflies like it.

    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Stephanie newish gardenerStephanie newish gardener Posts: 455

    Thanks for the responses, I think I concur with the identification.

    We have another bush which I can now see is the same thing though looks different, so probably just a different variety of the same species.  The bush in the pics above grows quite densely, and we cut it quite neatly as it sits on one side of the short pathway through to the back of the garden, hence asking when to cut it back as it's getting a bit big for the gap.

    The other one has a more open habit, but now I realise it's the same plant I think I might trim it more like  a hedge as I'm sure it will look neater. Having said that, the one in the pics above has fewer flowers than the other one in the pics below, tho that could be a variety thing

    image

    image

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,357

    It seems to flower on new growth, so treatng it as a hedge will definitely reduce the number of flowers. An alternative might be to remove one or two of the tallest srtems at the base each year, to encourage more new stems, and just to cut back longer stems with secateurs to encourage branching - more new growth = more flowersimage

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