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#1
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Pruning Escallonias
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 Nora |
#3
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Pruning Escallonias
"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). -- Chris, West Cork, Ireland. Festina lente |
#4
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Pruning Escallonias
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.' |
#5
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Pruning Escallonias
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! You prune it whatever shape you feel like, I get very annoyed when people you ` should ` do this that or the other, I also get cross when people say ` you must understand ` usually peeps on t.v. trying to talk themselves out of bother. you go ahead and play :-) kate |
#6
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Pruning Escallonias
"Sacha" wrote in message . uk... On 7/8/07 15:52, in article , "Cerumen" wrote: I have Escallonias in some of the hedges here mixed with fuchsias, elder and what I think is a type of privet, 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. It could be although I'm not sure as there is no picture in my RHS encyclopedia but having read the description with a sprig alongside me the flowers although creamy white are smaller and it's in flower now rather than spring and also at the growing end as well as from the leaf base. I'll try google for an image later when I'm online. It may have flowered in spring as well, I never pay much attention. -- Chris, West Cork, Ireland. 'I realised I was dyslexic after attending a toga party dressed as a goat' Anon |
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