Slightly serrated? Does that fit box? More pictures would help. Is that the shrub itself beyond the hand?

Hi there, I have some beautiful shrubs on my property in the Sierra Nevada Foothills here in Northern CA. They were planted many years ago by previous owners. They are large evergreen shrubs - up to 10+ ft across - 12 + ft tall with large thick nice 'green' shiny leaves 3-8 in long by 2-3.5 in across, small white flowers form in a loose spike (looks like Roseaceae Family (?))- haven't been here long enough to see fruit - I bet it is a berry of some sort. I do not believe it is a native species... Any help in an identification would be great.

Hi Zephyrgal, and thanks for the suggestion. The only thing is I don't remember the previous owner saying they bloomed. I received these in September of last year and they had no blooms or evidence of blooms on them at that time. Are there any varieties that don't bloom or at least not a substantial flower? Everything I found under google search for Escallonia showed flowers. Thanks. Squirrellypete

Gracie, Have you been there the whole 18 years the shrub has been there or do you just know that is the age of the evergreen shrub? I ask, because if you have moved into a place the last 2 or 3 years that has established evergreen conifers, sometimes you just haven't lived there long enough to see what is natural for them in terms of needles yellowing and dropping periodically. Even evergreens are not 100% evergreen. Periodically the needles turn yellow and drop as they age....much the same way that human hairs "shed" periodically. With some trees it might happen every year or every other year, but other years it might happen only once every 3rd or 4th year. If the needles are yellow but show no browning or crisping and do not have any lesions that might indicate disease, then it might just be that some old needles are coming out so they can be replaced by new needles. As part of the troubleshooting process, ponder what, if anything, is different about the tree this spring compared to previous springs. Has the weather been significantly wetter or significantly drier? Have you used any chemicals around it? Any digging, trenching, construction nearby? Is the yellowing uniformly scattered around the tree or is it only in one section or on one or two limbs? Is there an underground gas line/gas meter near the tree's root zone? Also, do you know what kind of a shrub it is? Dawn