HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF A CAMELLIA BUSH? |The Garden of Eaden

How do you take care of a Camellia bush?

Originally native to eastern and southern Asia, the glossy foliage and outstanding colourful blooms of modern Camellia cultivars makes them a luxuriant, albeit often expensive, choice for the garden. However, once planted issues may occur in subsequent years which can take the metaphorical shine off of your coveted specimens. So to avoid this, how do you take care of a Camellia bush?

How do you take care of a Camellia bush?

If you have recently purchased a camellia and you just need to know where and how to plant it then here is a quick break down. If you have a choice, Camellias are best planted in autumn while the soil is still warm to encourage the roots to establish before winter sets in. However container plants can be planted at any time of year, just avoid disturbing the roots in the rootball a this will delay your plant from establishing.

Most Camellia cultivars will prefer partial or dappled shade, but Camellia sasanqua can tolerate sunnier positions. If you do not have the benefit of acidic soils, plant you Camellia into ericaceous compost and subsequently feed with a water soluble ericaceous fertiliser such as Miracid.

Plant Camellias in a sheltered position, away from cold winds and early morning sun as this can cause the blooms to scorch.

When Camellias are newly planted they will need to be watered regularly until they become established. This particularly important during the summer months as this is when the flowers are produced. Allow the plant to dry out during this crucial period and you can lose the flower buds. Try to keep the soil constantly moist but avoid becoming waterlogged as this will damage the root systems and once again the flower buds can be lost.

Once established, camellias require very little care but if you plant becomes too large for its position it may need trimming back. This will do no harm to your plant, it fact it will tolerate server lopping but be mindful of the following easons blooms. If you cut your plants back in the autumn or winter you will be effectively removing the dormant flower buds which will result in a complete lack of spring blooms. Always try to time your cutting to immediately after flowering.

Camellia with chlorosis

Quite often you will see established Camellias with yellow/brown foliage, often accompanied with black spots. The spots are usually caused by environmental stress, while the yellow foliage is due to the plants inability to produce adequate chlorophyll pigment due to alkaline soil conditions.This is called chlorosis. In extreme cases of chlorosis camellias can also exhibit stunted or malformed new growth, as well as leaf and bud drop.

Luckily this can be resolved by a weekly feed of liquid soluble ericaceous and forking in iron chelate around the root system, while trying to acid damaging the root system. If you can't find iron chelate in your local garden centre, you can supplement this is hydrangea blue colourant

Main image - By junichiro aoyama from Kyoto, Japan - Camellia sasanqua, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2787079

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