Escallonia macrantha.

There could be many reasons why one portion is not thriving - something underground eg concrete footings, buried junk; something external - e.g. peeing dogs, chemical spraying neighbours; something to do with drainage e.g. too wet/dry; a disease e.g. a fungal infection; damage from piled up snow/salt. More info and pictures needed and maybe ask on the Shrubs forum.

Wow thanks for the quick id flora_uk. I've just googled some pictures for Escallonia macrantha and you are spot on. Now I need to check out the water, drainage and what to feed it. Thanks.

Not convinced it's that particular one but they all need a warm position with protection from frigid winds and wet soil. In my area a south-facing building wall is not too hot. One of those southern hemisphere shrubs that is most lasting near the beach, where it is not bothered by ocean winds and gets higher minimum temperatures than inland.

We don't know where you live wisetuna but in the UK they are hardy in most of the country but as bboy says they are especially widely used near the coast. But then nowhere in the UK is further than 70 miles from the sea. My Dad and I planted one in front of the house in around 1970 and it's still going strong even though we moved away long ago. That was 'inland', ie about 5 miles from the coast.

bboy - it could be one of the named cultivars e.g. one of the various 'Donards' but I couldn't tell from the pic so just went for E macrantha.

Also ..... "and what to feed it ...". Not necessarily anything. Find out what's wrong with it first. And as for the healthy part I'd leave it alone.

wisetuna - I've just realised you are in the UK. So Escallonia should be no problem at all unless you live in the North on high ground that gets cold in the winter. If your house already has a hedge of the stuff I'm assuming you are further South.

Thanks for your advice flora_uk and bboy. I'm South coast of UK. Bournemouth. 1/2 mile from beach. It's just had a heavy trimming so is looking a little worse for wear. The soil seemed very dry so I'll see how it revives with some more regular watering and I've been told slow release nitrogen fertiliser might help.

Bournemouth is classic Escallonia country, wisetuna. It will love it there - well it clearly does since you have an 8 foot hedge of it. You really shouldn't need to water an established hedge anywhere in the UK. I think you need to delve into why one end is not happy. Is there something different in the conditions at that end?

The bad half does have a lot of brambles in it and the good half has always looked a more deep healthy green. Apart from that conditions appear to be the same. It's just a hedge behind a low level brick wall at front of property. Possible it's got blight, but I would expect that to affect the whole hedge. I'll report back in a couple of weeks, hoping it will start to recover from it's spring prune.