Escallonia hedge dying?

ryanrod

I have an escallonia hedge around the fromt of my garden.

It has been growing there for approx 7 years.

It is the type with pink leaves.

Everything was ok until this year.

A couple of months ago a section of the hedge lost most of its leaves.
Now a large section of the hedge has lost its leaves!

I have inspected the hedge and remaining leaves have tiny white spots
maybe one or two on a leaf and parts of most leaves or black turning black.

I thought escallonia was sopposed to be resistant to disease but it looks
like disease to be.

Is there an escallonia disease out there? can I treat this some way?

I thought this prob would sort its self but it just seems to be getting worse.

Any suggestions appreciated.

bmaxi

Not much help I know, but on one of the gardening programmes on BBC they were talking of a mystery disease which was devastating escallonia in the U.K. Other than that it's hard to say why an established hedge should die off, unless someone has been spraying weedkiller in the area.

ryanrod

No weedkiller being sprayed in area.

Looks like a disease of some sort alright.

Googled UK escallonia disease and saw some mention alright.

Where's Gerry Daley when u need him?

I sopose I'll have to see how it goes.

Irish Gardener

ryanrod wrote: »

I have an escallonia hedge around the fromt of my garden.

It has been growing there for approx 7 years.

It is the type with pink leaves.

First of all, are you sure it is an Escallonia hedge.
Their leaf colours are usually various shades of green down to yellow.
You may have meant pink flowers.

ryanrod wrote: »

Everything was ok until this year.

A couple of months ago a section of the hedge lost most of its leaves.
Now a large section of the hedge has lost its leaves!

I have inspected the hedge and remaining leaves have tiny white spots
maybe one or two on a leaf and parts of most leaves or black turning black.

I thought escallonia was sopposed to be resistant to disease but it looks
like disease to be.

Is there an escallonia disease out there? can I treat this some way?

I thought this prob would sort its self but it just seems to be getting worse.

Any suggestions appreciated.

It is not unusual for the leaves of an Escallonia hedge to blacken and shed in winter, especially if you received a touch of freezing breezes.
I know it never happened before, but the hedge is now taller now (catching more wind), and something may have change in the environs eg. neighbours sheltering hedges, sheds or walls being removed.
So look for changes first.

Escallonia is generally disease and virus free, the disease "silver leaf" (not your problem) aside, it is hard to fathom what it could be.
You see with viruses, the leaves will yellow first before dropping, this can appear as dotting, streaking, or as a total leaf take over.
One or two little white dots on the base of the leaves seems very insignificant.

So the course of action I suggest is......

Half way up one of the main trunks of each Escallonia, you should lightly scrape the surface bark to inspect for life, in the form of green or white tissue with traces of sap.

If this looks good, I would then give the affected hedging plants a reduction in height and width by approx a quarter, or until you cut into sappy wood, whichever happens first.
When pruning your Escallonia plants ensure you create clean cuts without ragged edges.
Diseases is more rampant on poorly pruned specimens.
To prevent disease transfer between plants, you must wipe down your pruners with alcohol or surgical spirit before and after pruning.

Enforce strict garden hygiene around your Escallonia.
Rake out and remove any dead leaves at the base of the hedge, destroy these at a safe distance away by burning.
Also, remove any dead or badly damaged leaves on the plants and destroy these as well.
Fungal spores may exist on these dead / damaged leaves and spread the disease through wind and rain dispersal.

An Escallonia plant under stress will suffer more from the effects diseases and viruses.
De-stress your plants by keeping them well watered in dry spells and keeping them fed throughout the growing season.
Apply a pelleted chicken manure once a season; this should be adequate if you have an open, friable soil but it is not effective in heavy, sticky clay soils. In that case, you could also try applying a foliar feed such as Phostrogen or Miracle-gro (when the leaves return).

For now, when you are finished pruning give the plants in the hedge a shake of fertiliser for leafy hedges (garden centre will advise) to promote new leafing.

Now you sit back and wait for leaves.
If none have appeared by late summer, I'm sorry but you should remove the affected plants and replace with something other than Escallonia (resistant to whatever the Escallonia died from).


ryanrod, I would love to see a pic of the affected leaves anyway, both spotty and black, tomake myself morea ware of this problem.

Extracts from this post taken from Holes in laurel hedge leaves @ irishgardeners.com

Sonnenblumen

Ryanrod,

appears there could be several factors that might contribute to the unusual loss of leaf on your escallonia hedge. Before taking any drastic cutting action, have a read of Bill Blackledge's excellent column, some very useful pointers as to causes and possible remedies:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2006/10/18/ask_the_gardener_hedges_feature.shtml

bmaxi

Yeah, I missed that bit about the pink leaves, I read flowers, now I'd really start to worry.:D

ryanrod

Ok

Definitely pink flowers LOL!

I took a few pics to show the condition of the hedge as suggested by Irish Gardener (thanks for fantastic reply).

You can see leaves are blackened and white spots on some.
I won't be taking any drastic action just yet, as it took so long to grow.

See what you think.

Irish Gardener

Looks like fungal leaf spot to me, in those pics the white dots you see are pycnidia (the fungal fruiting body/spreader)
Everything I have said already still stands as it is important to remove all the damaged leaves on the bush as well as those shed. All are hosts for the fungus.

The plants most affected were probably those under most stress through lack/excess of water, feed, compaction and air flow. So it is important to give the hedge some pampering as detailed in my first post.

Also visit your garden centre and purchase a fungicide suitable for use on escallonia, and apply it to halt the leaf spot. Diathane for the home gardener is one that comes to mind.

All is not lost, your plants may come good yet.

ircoha

I note IG is recommending the burning of garden waste: is this not banned by all LA's now.

ryanrod

Sprayed hedge with diathane last week will post results in coming months.

Irish Gardener

Fair play.

aberogwr

I've read all this with great interest. I'm attaching a couple of photos of my escallonia which is covered in leaves like this. They're not quite the same as Ryanrod showed, but closer than anything else I've seen. Is it the same problem? Same solution?

This escallonia is mature, about 8-10 feet tall, in a garden close to the sea.

White dargo

ryanrod wrote: »

Sprayed hedge with diathane last week will post results in coming months.

How did it go with your hedge ryanrod? I have the same problem now. Did the diathane do the trick?

Aslorn

Hi Ryanrod. I've exactly the same problem. I've about a 20 ft length of a hedge that looks like yours did. Any luck with the solution you tried?

Prowetod

I also have the same problem:P

Its almost a year since Ryanrod last posted in this thread so we might not get a result:(

ryanrod

The diathane seemed to work at first.
But now hedge (since winter) has lost nearly all it's leaves and those that
remain still have that fungal spotting.

I cut it back, a gardener I was talking to said that I had let it get too
high too quickly.
So I am waiting to see how (if) it comes back to life in spring!

White dargo

ryanrod wrote: »

The diathane seemed to work at first.
But now hedge (since winter) has lost nearly all it's leaves and those that
remain still have that fungal spotting.

I cut it back, a gardener I was talking to said that I had let it get too
high too quickly.
So I am waiting to see how (if) it comes back to life in spring!

Thanks for the reply

When you say that the diathane seemed to work at first did the leaves actually grow back or did it just prevent further shedding?

Also did you cut it back much on the advice of the gardener? I think I may have done the same as you by letting it get too high too quickly and I think I'll cut it back and then spray on the diathane.

yop

so you think Escallonia is not a great hedge? I am buying now in next 2 week 300 hedge plants, was gonna go with Escallonia but now am not sure!

White dargo

yop wrote: »

so you think Escallonia is not a great hedge? I am buying now in next 2 week 300 hedge plants, was gonna go with Escallonia but now am not sure!

I have mine since 2002 and before this winter couldn't complain. Then this disease started with a couple of plants before Christmas and is now spreading.

A bit worrying from your perspective when you see other people surfacing on this thread with the same problem as me.

yop

heck!! maybe I need to rethink then!!

Aslorn

I've just had someone look at a cutting and they say it could be blackspot another fungus. They've recommended TLC with leaves disposed of and burned. Apparently "roseclear" is a possible solution to the ungus problem so I'll give it a try

yop

What alternatives to escalonia

armapple

Just found this forum after doing a search for "escallonia dying". Have two different varieties, and a patch in each is dying. Honestly thought it was the dog, until I took a closer look. Quite worried as it was a very trouble-free, lovely hedge for many years. Would the two very wet summers we've had be a factor? Will try some of the sprays mentioned, and the cleaning up, but we did clip each year. Another mystery garden problem (last year we became familiar with aminopyralid ... but that's another story!)

cdbrock

I have exactly the same problem extensively with my escallonia which borders 3 sides of my garden. I live in the Blackrock area of Cork city and every escallonia in the parish is exhibiting these signs. Basically they all appear to be dying. Where will all this end and what is the cause. CDBROCK

armapple

http://www.garden.ie/askgerry_answers.aspx?article=317

http://forum.gardeningmags.co.uk/forumlive/topic.asp?whichpage=2&TOPIC_ID=3437&#129796

Haven't found any real answers to what appears to be a pretty widespread problem. Everything seems to be mysteriously quiet, so it's difficult to fathom what is going on. I have always recommended escallonia up till now and I hope we get to find out what the problem is. I sprayed heavily with dithane on both escallonia types, - one is showing signs of life again which I hope will continue, the other actually looks burnt from a distance. All the best and good to see some life on this board!

mountain

escallonia hedge around our garden died off during winter as well,
but i notice plenty of new growth in the past week or so.

anyone else see an improvement?

inishindie

Hi

There's been a real surge of growth on our escallonia hedge this week.

There's a bit on the plant problems here which is useful if the shrub is leggy.

Cheers

Ian

Prowetod

Are there any other treatments available? My Escallonia has been poor for about 2 years now. I have noticed the disease in most escallonia hedges I have seen.

Anyone manage to cure their's yet?

zeppe

Made inquiries recently from McGuires Garden Centre near Dunmore East. It was suggested that the trouble may have been the result of the very wet summers and that the hedge may come back with a little fertilizer and cutting back slightly . Here's hoping.

Aslorn

Update from last year - I tried using roseclear on the hedge for 2 years and it seemed to have some effect but not much (but the roses I sprayed at the same time were the best ever!). Over this winter the hedge lost most of its leaves but this season there is great growth and it looks as good as ever with virtually no evidence of a problem on the leaves. I did trim it last autumn but not a great deal (18 inches off the top leaving 8 feet), so I don't think this was the reason for the improvement. Also, I intend to use fertilizer this year but had not done so yet. My conclusion is that the weather was the problem. Anyway fingers crossed and I hope others see an improvement this year.

IsaBrown

I've had same problem for last two years, there wasn't a single leaf on hedge at beginning of growing season, I fed with fertilizer from local farmers co-op and it's now full of lush green leaves and flowering. I noticed a few leaves yellowing with black spots yesterday so sprayed with dithane and gave it another feed. Fingers crossed.

Aslorn

The hedge has taken a turn for the worse again. Currently not too bad but several yellow and black spot leaves. Back to spraying and fertiliser. I still think it is better than previous years though so fingers still crossed. I'm using RoseClear and general purpose fertiliser

bunkadoo

hi, any updates on the hedges? my 6ft high one out the front stands leafless for the first time. it was always the healthiest looking in the street. last summer they were covered in black spots and now they are all gone. im sure the unusually harsh irish winter we had was instrumental in this. i really really want to go out and start cutting into it but am unsure if i should at this time of year. i have very rarely pruned it in the past and thought that is why it has come on so well over the 7 years it has been there. any advice?

Aslorn

Hi, I'm afraid I've a similar problem. Last year seemed to have licked the problem (I used roseclear and sprayed regularly - I don't know if this actually helped). This winter all the leaves dropped off and some are now coming back but all have the dreaded black spot. I also think weather is the issue. This year I'll try fertiliser at the roots and more roseclear. Fingers crossed!

bunkadoo

can you actually cut it back at this time of year? the tops are all dead looking and id love to get the cutters out to it. is thisz the wrong time to do this? im not a gardener by any means.

woody1

hi
i put down a new escallonia hedge 2 years ago and now after 2 very hard winters it look like its dead to me it took a battering last winter and i was surprised to see it come back reasonably well but this year i think has finished it off all of the branches are woody and brown no sign of green anywhere or any buds would ye think its a gonner or is it worth giving it another while

can anyone reccomend any alternatives hardy ones given the winters weve been having and probably will be having exposed / breezy site

have to say i was tempted to put in leilandii ( i know ) before i put the escallonia down and id be tempted to go that direction again

Aslorn

Woody,
I'd give the escallonia another season or two. It can seem to die right back and come back again. You should start to see new leaves soon. Its worth carrying on as it's a beautiful hedge. As to putting in leilandii! My first suggestion would be don't, if you are still considering it I'd refer you to my first suggestion!. I have some and I am seriously considering having them taken out!

woody1

ok we'll see how it goes for another few months and if there are any signs of improvement we'll leave it alone
so alternatives to leilandii then bear in mind this is a windy site

Brookfields

Hi - really pleased to find this thread. I was wondering about the Escallonia hedging we have on the ditch in our front garden. Similar problem as those everyone else is experiencing... the leaves developed black spots, turned yellow and all fell off. I did notice that just one plant went completely yellow and died - I probably should have removed this and the rest may have been OK. The hedging is now bare which is not great as we planted this hedge in order for our front garden to be private. I am hoping, after reading back through the whole thread that the hedge will start to bud in April and come back fully by the summer. I'll give it some time and see how it goes - would be a shame to pull it up after the time and money spent on it.

We are just making a decision about another hedge to plant elsewhere in the garden. We are going to go for either Griselinia which is lovely light green leaves and stays green all year round but I have just been told that this can die off too from the results of prolonged bad weather. The other option is to plant Laurel, which is the one I think we are going to go for. This seems quite hardy, with bigger light green leaves and seems to grow quite well in this area (Wexford).

pd1234

Hi, new to this website but find it very informative. I have an escallonia hedge about 200ft in length, 5-7ft high and 3-4ft in depth. During and after winter 2009 it lost 80% of its leaves. During and after winter 2010 it lost all its leaves. It is now completely bare. I brought some small cuttings into local co-op. They advised me to cut it down about 2-3ft and cut it back. Then apply a fertilser 10-10-20 at beginning of April. There are some small buds of new growth on the hedge thou you have to look hard to find them. Another tip is to slice off a piece of bark (like pealing a carrot) about 3-4" above ground level. If inside is greenish or whiteish and sappy it is not dead. Will keep you informed.

Worztron

I have heard from someone that there is an escallonia blight across the continent and is also here. Can someone else confirm this?

White dargo

Worztron wrote: »

I have heard from someone that there is an escallonia blight across the continent and is also here. Can someone else confirm this?

My hedge developed the black spots in the winter of 2008-09. It recovered in April 09 but the same problem recurred in the Autumn. The hedge recovered again in April 2010 but the problem recurred again in the winter just gone. Halfway through April now and there is no sign of a recovery this year. In fact it seems to be as dead as the proverbial dodo

I came across a message board today http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about4629.html There seems to be some informed opinion on there that the disease is Mycosphaerella escalloniae.

Possible solution here http://www.garden.ie/gardeningtroubles.aspx?id=1230

Worztron

White dargo wrote: »

Possible solution here http://www.garden.ie/gardeningtroubles.aspx?id=1230

Hi White dargo. Could you repost that link, it does not work.

White dargo

Worztron wrote: »

Hi White dargo. Could you repost that link, it does not work.

Working at this end Worztron . Here it is again anyway .

http://www.garden.ie/gardeningtroubles.aspx?id=1230

Worztron

White dargo wrote: »

Working at this end Worztron . Here it is again anyway .

http://www.garden.ie/gardeningtroubles.aspx?id=1230

Cheers White dargo. Yes, it works fine. That website must have been down when I tried that link earlier.