How often to water escallonia

The interval

An escallonia hedge needs a deep watering about every 7 days through the growing season when there has been no rain, and about every 21 days in winter if the ground is dry. Growing season means the warm, bright months from spring to early autumn, roughly March to September in the northern hemisphere and September to March in the southern. Winter is the cold, short-day part of your own year. Treat the numbers as a ceiling, because a rainy week means no watering at all.

Check the soil rather than the date. Push a trowel blade or a finger 8 to 10 cm down beside the plant. If the soil there is dry and crumbly, water, and if it is cool and holds together, wait. A plant in a large pot can be lifted at one side: a dry pot is far lighter than a pot a day after watering. The Royal Horticultural Society says escallonias dislike permanently wet or very dry soil, so both checks matter.

Water slowly and deeply at the base. Run a hose on a trickle or fill a basin around the stem, and let it sink in, then leave the plant until the soil dries again. Frequent light sprinkling wets only the top and keeps the roots near the surface. Water in the morning and keep the leaves dry, because the RHS says escallonia leaf spot is favoured by wet weather and that rain splashes the spores from leaf to leaf.

Too much water leaves the roots without air in heavy soil and shows as yellow leaves and a stalled plant, and the RHS says wet summer conditions leave plants vulnerable to leaf spot. Too little shows as wilting and a poor flowering year. The RHS advises watering during prolonged drought and feeding regularly to limit stress, since a stressed hedge is the one the disease strips.

What is particular to escallonia is that it is a coastal shrub. The RHS says it is tolerant of salty air, so it does well by the sea, but it also warns that strong, frost-laden winter winds can damage or even kill it. Sea air is no reason to skip the soil check, because a hedge that copes with salt still dislikes wet or very dry ground.

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