'JK77',

Established Escallonia hedges may be pruned fairly hard after
flowering, but they flower more freely if trimmed only lightly.

Best to adopt the principle that you are in charge and that the hedge
will be the size that you want it to be. It will soon sprout new shoots
and thicken out.

This is an interesting site as it advocates pruning to within 12" of the
ground in the spring. Quite drastic but very effective if your hedge
has got out of hand.

http://www.angliangardener.co.uk/Pla...scallonia.html

Regards,
Emrys Davies.



"JK77" wrote in message
...
I have an Escallonia hedge which is 6 and a half ft. wide and just
under 5
ft. tall. It is quite old, and because of the width of the hedge, I
don't
like to prune it back very much in late summer/autumn as to do so
would
leave me with loads of bare wood.

Can anyone help me with the following questions?

1.Is it o.k to prune it now as by the end of the Summer it has usually
grown
out of control?

2.Can you cut it back very hard in the late summer/autumn after
flowering?
Will it recover? Due to my conservative pruning it seems to be getting
wider
every year.

Thanks.