Escallonia

Escallonia: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense evergreen shrub of 1.5–3 m.

Leaf

Alternate, 1–6 cm, obovate, finely toothed, glossy dark green and often slightly sticky and aromatic.

Bark

Reddish-brown, slightly sticky twigs.

Flower

Clusters of tubular to bell-shaped flowers (1–2 cm) in pink, red or white, from June to September.

Fruit

Small, dry capsules.

Difference from box-leaved honeysuckle

Box-leaved honeysuckle has smaller, opposite leaves and inconspicuous cream flowers.

Difference from oleaster

Oleaster has leathery leaves with a silvery underside and inconspicuous autumn flowers.

Flowering: June–September · Pruning: August–September

Identify by feature: Evergreen leaves

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Box-leaved honeysuckle Lonicera nitida: smaller, opposite leaves and inconspicuous cream flowers. Difference from box-leaved honeysuckle
• Oleaster Elaeagnus: leathery leaves with a silvery underside and inconspicuous autumn flowers. Difference from oleaster

Why grow it?

• Flowers all summer, from June to September.
• A flowering evergreen hedge that tolerates sea wind and salt: ideal on the coast.
• Bees and butterflies visit the flowers all summer.
• One trim a year is enough.

Escallonia: where does it grow best?

• Full sun; in shade it hardly flowers and grows weak and leggy.
• Sheltered from cold easterly winds; by the sea, however, it tolerates wind and salt.
• Well-drained soil, including sand or chalk; no waterlogging, as it succumbs to frost more quickly on wet soil.
• Allow 2 m width as a free-standing shrub; as a hedge, keep it 60–80 cm wide.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

2 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• English lavender: Purple flowers at its feet, also for bees, in the same sunny, well-drained soil.
• Sea buckthorn: A native coastal shrub for the same sea wind, with orange berries in autumn.
• Tamarisk: Another shrub that tolerates salt and wind, with pink plumes: together a flowering windbreak by the sea.

Good and bad companions

Best kept away from

• Do not plant under the dense crown of these trees: norway spruce, european silver fir, nordmann fir, douglas fir, yew, horse chestnut, norway maple, sycamore

Escallonia: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from a pot in spring (April–May): that gives it a whole summer to root before its first winter.
2. For a hedge: 2–3 plants per metre.
3. Dig a generous planting hole; on heavy soil, mix in coarse sand or gravel for better drainage.
4. Water generously after planting, and in dry spells during the first year.

Care

Watering

In dry spells in the first year; hardly at all after that, except in a pot.

Feeding

A little compost in spring; too much fertiliser gives soft, frost-tender growth.

Hedge

Trim once a year, after the main flush of flowers (August–September).

Winter protection

In hard frost, protect young plants with horticultural fleece and a layer of leaves at the base.

Tip: Plant in spring and choose a sunny, sheltered spot: that gives a young escallonia the best chance of coming through its first winter. Take a few cuttings in summer as a back-up.

Escallonia: when to prune it?

Pruning months: August–September.

When: After flowering, in August–September.

How:

• Trim a hedge once a year, after the main flush of flowers; a free-standing shrub needs little pruning.
• Cut frost-damaged branches back to healthy wood in April.
• A bare, neglected shrub can be cut back hard: it resprouts from old wood, but will flower less for a year.

Caution: Do not trim after mid-September: new shoots would not have time to harden before winter and would be killed by frost. In August, also check for late nests.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In July–August, take 10 cm semi-ripe cuttings and root them in sandy compost under glass or plastic; they root readily. That also gives you a spare plant if the parent is killed by frost.

Escallonia: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• It comes through an ordinary winter with a few degrees of frost without trouble, and in a sheltered spot usually down to about −10 °C as well.
• In harder or prolonged frost, especially with cold easterly winds, it is killed back: sometimes only the tips, sometimes to the ground. It usually resprouts in spring, but young plants can die.
• It does best on the coast and in towns; in the Ardennes and on cold, wet soil, you are better off choosing a different hedge.

Diseases and pests

• Frost damage: Brown leaves and dead branches after a severe winter. Wait until April: then you can see what is sprouting again, and cut back to healthy wood.
• Leaf spot: In wet years, dark spots, often with a purple edge, can appear on the leaves, which then drop. Clear up fallen leaves and keep the shrub open.
• Waterlogging: On wet, heavy soil the roots rot and it succumbs to frost more quickly. Improve the drainage or choose another spot.
• Few flowers: Too much shade, or trimmed at the wrong time. Only trim after the main flowering.

Through the year

• April: Cut out frost damage back to healthy wood; plant.
• May: Plant from pots.
• June: Flowering begins.
• July: Full flower: bees and butterflies; take cuttings.
• August: Trim the hedge after the main flowering.
• September: Last trim, before mid-September.
• December: Protect young plants in hard frost.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Flowering evergreen hedge that tolerates sea wind and salt: ideal on the coast.

For wildlife

Bees and butterflies visit the flowers all summer.

Caution: Not fully hardy: it can be killed back in severe winters, especially inland.

Did you know?

• Named after Escallón, a Spanish traveller who collected plants in the 18th century in South America, where the shrub comes from.
• Many garden varieties, such as ‘Donard Seedling’, come from the Slieve Donard Nursery in Northern Ireland.
• In Ireland and Cornwall it grows so well on the coast that it has gone wild here and there.