Hi..Help please. I have noticed that my 15 Pink Princess and Dwarf Newport Escallonia have all experienced damage from our recent heavy snows. Most foliage has now darkened and leaves are fallling. Will they recover without hard pruning? Should I hard prune? How much and when? Thank you. Ed (West Van)
Best wait to see what regrowth you get in the spring, and then prune back to that later on in the summer.
Damaged by cold rather than snow. Snow protects from cold, until it falls off. Pink Princess = 'Frades' isn't very hardy, apparently the other is tender also. Most escallonias are. Even the old standby 'Donard Seedling' ('Apple Blossom' misapplied) was burnt this year on Camano Island. However, I expect this last to leaf out from intact branches next spring. 'Frades' may have experienced some shoot damage, I haven't looked at any up close yet. In 1990 'Frades' in this area froze to the ground, came back from the roots.
Thanks Michael. Can I clean things up by gently shaking off all the dead leaves? - I assume they will fall off anyways at some point soon. Additionally, our climate is quite temperate as you know in Vancouver - things start growing February/March usually - what is the risk if I give a good prune at that point to 'reduce the growth' a bit and to shape the plants. Thank you.
Thank you Ron (and Michael). It sounds like you may have experienced the same cold damage and resulting leaf damage. Would I do damage by pruning a bit aggressively in Feb/March - I assume that all the darkened foliage will fall off anyway. (it appears that 50-90% of some of my Pink Princess are blackened - my PP are about 4 feet tall - will they come back quickly from an aggressive prune?) Thank you.
If you can't stand it, cut it back. Otherwise, wait for the plant to indicate where to prune back to by where it sprouts from.
Ed--down here in Surrey, our Pink Princess plants are all trashed, probably worse than yours since we get the cold outflow winds also. I've seen this before tho, like Ron says, this isn't a very hardy shrub, tho quite attractive otherwise! Sooo, "we" had to prune things way back already...looking at all those dead plant bodies in the front yard wasn't an option apparently :-) Almost certainly there is some life down at ground level, and these babies grow like gangbusters anyway, so they will be a good size again by next fall. That's life on the lower mainland...
For escallonias in general, in this region you want a hot sunny site with good drainage. Sheltered south-facing walls and other bright, protected positions are optimal. Those with graceful branching, such as the commonly offered 'Donard Seedling' ('Apple Blossom' misapplied) are suitable for training on walls, from which their side branches can then cascade.
