How to Start Escallonia Pink Princess Plants

A resilient shrub often favored by gardeners for shadeless parts of a garden, Escallonia pink princess plants have versatile features. It's easy to give your shrub a great start as long as you understand a few of the basic sunlight and soil factors that this plant needs. Once you've taken these into account, the pink princess plant will grow as a stand-alone shrub or as a screen that requires little maintenance.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Mulch
• Fertilizer
• Pruning shears

1. Select a place in the yard that receives full sunlight unless you reside in a hot climate such as the Deep South. Put the pink princess plant in partial shade in hot climates.

2. Space the plants 2 feet to 3 feet apart to grow a screen of shrubs. Escallonia pink princess will grow 5 or 6 feet tall if not pruned. This distance may seem wide at first, but the shrubs will quickly close the gap.

3. Ensure you're planting in well-drained soil. Despite its hardiness, the pink princess plant won't tolerate soggy soil for long. If your yard doesn't have an area in full sun that already drains well, create raised beds or dig drainage trenches.

4. Make a hole for the plant twice the size of the root ball and deep enough to plant at the same level the shrub was in the container. Take the shrub out of the container and separate the roots. Place the plant in the middle of the hole and fill the hole with dirt.

5. Mulch around the shrubs once you've planted them to protect against nutrient-robbing weeds. Add about a 4-inch layer of mulch around the roots for the first few winters to protect them from temperature extremes.

6. Water occasionally, but not every day. The pink princess does well with supplemental watering, but care should be taken to make sure the soil is never soggy.

7. Add a fertilizer rich in nitrogen each spring as the growing season begins, then follow in mid-summer with a general fertilizer blend.

8. Prune every fall when flowers have dropped and growth has stopped. Trim out any dead or dying branches, and then shape according to taste.

References

• Easy Bloom: Pink Princess Escallonia
• University of California Integrated Pest Management Program: Escallonia

Resources

• Backyard Gardener: Escallonia