On 7/8/07 15:52, in article ,
"Cerumen" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 7/8/07 13:31, in article , "Nora
Jones" wrote:


With my new home in North Wales I have acquired an escallonia, of the
apple blossom variety. It is a beautiful bush and is still in bloom,
having started to blossom around 5 weeks ago.
Last year I cut it back as it was quite tall, broad, and unruly! As I
didn't know how to do this, I just cut it back to a nice round shape.
It stands on its own in the middle of my garden and is a haven for many
species of garden birds.
I read somewhere that it should be pruned to a "pyramid" shape. Is
this necessary as I am not certain that my non-artistic character could
cope? Am I right in assuming that I should wait until all the flowers
are finished? I just want to keep it neat and tidy, enjoy it, and keep
it as a haven for the birds!
Thank you

I don't understand why anyone would think it *should* be pruned to a
pyramid
shape. Many people use Escallonias a hedging and then it's just kept sort
of hedge-shaped! I should cut it just as you want it and enjoy it - it
sounds lovely. You can do the trimming after it's flowered or in
mid-spring
before any flower buds form.
I have Escallonias in some of the hedges here mixed with fuchsias, elder and
what I think is a type of privet, they all thrive and can be cut back to, as
you say, to "Hedge Shaped" or indeed any other shape or just left to grow
although they are all so vigourous they need cutting all too regularly
unless you want them to take over the garden. Nothing seems to kill them and
they are indeed full of birds nests ( my excuse for not cutting them early
in the year).

They're very rewarding plants because they're evergreen, they have lovely
flowers and bees go crazy about them. Is your type of 'privet' possibly the
Lonicera nitida we've been talking about elsewhere? If you do a Google
Image search you might find it's familiar.
I was thinking about Nora's remark that she'd read it should be trimmed to a
pyramid shape. I wonder if what was meant was the sort of thing that's done
to large hedges to reduce the weight of the top branches on the lower part
of the hedge so as to stop it from splaying in snow fall and to allow light
to get to the bottom of the hedge so that it doesn't get leggy and spindly.
Then, it's cut as a sort of wedge, narrower on top than at the bottom.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'