Q: I’ve always understood that escallonia is supposed to be evergreen, but my young hedge has lost a lot of its leaves and looks pretty tatty. Am I doing something wrong? – Sean K, Co Cork
A: You’re absolutely right to think that escallonia has traditionally been used as an informal, evergreen flowering hedge – one of the reasons for its popularity in milder, coastal parts of Ireland, where it can also happily withstand salty sea gales. But unfortunately in recent years it’s fallen victim to a now widespread fungal disease commonly known as escallonia leaf spot that causes it to lose its leaves.
Early signs include dark blotching and yellowing of the foliage, which gradually spreads to many parts of the plant. You’ll often also see tiny greyish-white patches appearing on the leaves where the fruiting bodies of the fungus have developed. Badly affected plants can often, slowly but surely, lose all their foliage from late summer onwards, especially in a wet year, so that by the time late autumn/early winter arrives, it gives every appearance of being a deciduous species.
New leaves appear in spring, but these can also slowly succumb. Over time, this constant cycle of new growth followed by defoliation weakens the plants, resulting in poor growth and even death. Rainy weather in particular really encourages the rapid spread of the disease, helping the fungal spores to easily move from plant to plant.
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While there’s no cure, you can help to reduce its spread by collecting and carefully disposing of any clippings and fallen leaves as well as handpicking any obviously diseased leaves that remain on the plant and then burning them. But that’s often not an easy task. Providing good growing conditions by avoiding planting in poorly drained soil is another part of the solution, alongside mulching with an organic mulch around the roots in spring and scattering some slow-release organic fertiliser.
A careful pruning regime is also important. When used as a hedging plant, escallonia is traditionally pruned in September/October. But a mid-spring regenerative pruning is also advised if you need to selectively remove any dead branches and encourage their replacement with plenty of new, healthy young growth.
