UK gardening - Escallonias not happy in West Cornwall

Author

Escallonias not happy in West Cornwall

Chris Hogg

2008-02-20, 3:25 am

I have an escallonia hedge (Red Hedger), planted about 5 years ago,
about 7ft tall, 18 inches through, that is looking decidedly poorly.
Mostly bare branches, very few leaves, and a scattering of young buds
appearing. I had assumed this was a cultivation problem, as the hedge
replaced a row of, admittedly small, leylandii with no attempt at soil
rejuvenation; there's a stone garden wall along one side and the other
side had recently been excavated to lay a paved driveway, and the
problem seemed to start after the very dry summer of 2006.

I was planning to feed and mulch it this spring in an effort to
rejuvenate it, but a friend came to see us the other day and said "Oh,
I see you've got the escallonia problem". Apparently, quite a few
escallonias in West Cornwall are showing similar symptoms, and when I
told him of my plans to rejuvenate it he replied "Yeah, yeah, btdt",
implying that in his experience it wouldn't make a lot of difference.

Has anyone else got 'the escallonia problem', and has anyone got any
theories as to what might be the cause and/or remedy?

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Charlie Pridham

2008-02-20, 9:25 am

In article <0qonr3t3ehkgcbhfmve3a2m6tod4bken58@4ax.com>, me@privacy.net
says...
> I have an escallonia hedge (Red Hedger), planted about 5 years ago,
> about 7ft tall, 18 inches through, that is looking decidedly poorly.
> Mostly bare branches, very few leaves, and a scattering of young buds
> appearing. I had assumed this was a cultivation problem, as the hedge
> replaced a row of, admittedly small, leylandii with no attempt at soil
> rejuvenation; there's a stone garden wall along one side and the other
> side had recently been excavated to lay a paved driveway, and the
> problem seemed to start after the very dry summer of 2006.
>
> I was planning to feed and mulch it this spring in an effort to
> rejuvenate it, but a friend came to see us the other day and said "Oh,
> I see you've got the escallonia problem". Apparently, quite a few
> escallonias in West Cornwall are showing similar symptoms, and when I
> told him of my plans to rejuvenate it he replied "Yeah, yeah, btdt",
> implying that in his experience it wouldn't make a lot of difference.
>
> Has anyone else got 'the escallonia problem', and has anyone got any
> theories as to what might be the cause and/or remedy?
>
>
There is a nasty disease doing the rounds, sorry don't know the name of
this but I gave up on mine and have replaced the hedge
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Chris Hogg

2008-02-20, 1:25 pm

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:57:23 -0000, Charlie Pridham
<charlie@roselandhouse.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <0qonr3t3ehkgcbhfmve3a2m6tod4bken58@4ax.com>, me@privacy.net
>says...

>There is a nasty disease doing the rounds, sorry don't know the name of
>this but I gave up on mine and have replaced the hedge

Thanks Charlie, although it's not what I wanted to hear :-(

I've googled for escallonia and disease, but as usual I get masses of
hits but nothing obvious.

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Charlie Pridham

2008-02-20, 5:25 pm

In article <76sor3hr0bs9mkbm5v3not1hsk3f4hveav@4ax.com>, me@privacy.net
says...
> On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:57:23 -0000, Charlie Pridham
> <charlie@roselandhouse.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
> Thanks Charlie, although it's not what I wanted to hear :-(
>
> I've googled for escallonia and disease, but as usual I get masses of
> hits but nothing obvious.
>
>
I picked this up at the AGM for the NCCPG cornwall branch. The National
colection of them is in big trouble ecause of it apparently but as I had
already grubbed most of mine up I did not take a lot of notice (its not
the most riveting way of spending half a Saturday!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Chris Hogg

2008-02-20, 5:25 pm

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:53:06 -0000, Charlie Pridham
<charlie@roselandhouse.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <76sor3hr0bs9mkbm5v3not1hsk3f4hveav@4ax.com>, me@privacy.net
>says...
>I picked this up at the AGM for the NCCPG cornwall branch. The National
>colection of them is in big trouble ecause of it apparently but as I had
>already grubbed most of mine up I did not take a lot of notice (its not
>the most riveting way of spending half a Saturday!)

Thanks again.

A bit more googling brings up the national collection of escallonia as
being at the Duchy College, Rosewarne, with M. Hutchens being the
contact. Is that correct, do you know? If so, I'll e-mail him to see
if he has more info.

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Charlie Pridham

2008-02-21, 3:27 am

In article <0h9pr3hsa3ntp177t12udptbctkfcsek72@4ax.com>, me@privacy.net
says...
> On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:53:06 -0000, Charlie Pridham
> <charlie@roselandhouse.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks again.
>
> A bit more googling brings up the national collection of escallonia as
> being at the Duchy College, Rosewarne, with M. Hutchens being the
> contact. Is that correct, do you know? If so, I'll e-mail him to see
> if he has more info.
>
>
Yes that is correct, Ros Smith may also be able to help.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

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