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Japanese Holly - yellow leaves

12 years ago

I have a row of four Japanese hollies that are about eight years old and on one of the them the leaves at the end of many branches have turned yellow. I would put this down to winter but we've had a mild winter and the other three bushes are fine. Any ideas what the problem may be.

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

12 years ago

i prefer to properly ID a problem.. before i start treating problems ...

if its a root issue.. from being severely rootbound in a pot.. then the fert is not going to help it long run ...

same with it if its a weather phenom ...

turtle's suggestion will not hurt anything.. but it wont really diagnose the problem ... e.g. if you have a kidney infection.. suggesting a few vitamins.. isnt really going to help in the long run ... probably wont hurt.. but it wont solve the problem ....

btw... in general .... no evergreen holds its leaves forever.. interior browning of the oldest leaves.. would be considered normal ... and increased by drought the year prior ...

ken

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
cant do much w/o a picture..

what was the coldest cold snap you had ... its weird.. but it could effect only one ... sometimes the mildest winters cause more harm.. due to the wild temp fluctuations ...

otherwise.. who knows what could have affected that one plant .. fertilizer??? lawn care?? dog... back to needing a picture

ken
bogturtle
12 years ago
Get some chelated iron fertilizer like Hollytone and use a little. I would use a teaspoonful in two gallons of water,as completely dissolved as possible, and wait two weeks. Better too little than too much Later in Spring, here, all my holly start to lose some leaves, that have turned yellow. I think those leaves are about two years old. But anything alkaline, like fresh concrete of dog urine, would be detrimental to holly.
I am a rank amateur but have been dealing with holly for a lifetime.
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I agree with almost everything rhizo said, but I will add that some natural burlap is treated and should also be completely removed like the synthetic stuff. Also, as stated in rhizo's link, there are conditions where even natural burlap takes much too long to break down. I make it a practice to remove all burlap whenever possible and to remove all that possibly can be removed in situations where 100% of it cannot be reasonably removed (with very large rootballs). The only thing that I don't completely agree with is the need to keep the rootball intact. A lot of the old advice stresses this, but much of the newer information indicates that this is not critical. The important thing is not to leave large air gaps when planting is complete. There are even some (not me) who make it a practice to remove all soil from the rootball before planting, and plant in only native soil. I don't believe that the burlap is playing any part in the problems you are experiencing. The only way it really could is if you had left burlap above ground level and the burlap was wicking moisture from the rootball (a pretty common problem where there is exposed burlap). Except for the wicking issue (which it sounds like you avoided), burlap issues only show up after a few years in the ground.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
mark replied to my email.. instead of here ... i dont see why i cant share it ...

he said:
Thank you. It's been in the ground a long time (6-8 years) so I don't think
it's rootbound. I showed a branch to my garden shop this morning and their
guess was that it was the winter cold snaps (we had lots of days going from
70 to 25). I'm not sure how else to diagnose it. I'll do a little pruning to
get rid of yellow leaves and air out the crowded center. Once a month, the
gardens here have a master gardener clinic so I'll go there next time it's
open. Thanks for your advice.

===>>> mark.. i would not go pruning.. until i see where buds break .. if its just cosmetic to the leaves.. then i dont see why you need to go lopping off branch pieces ...

the leaves will fall off themselves, if you have patience ... but why mangle the plant otherwise ...

often a frost will only affect the leaves.. but not the buds with this years growth... that usually happens during a freeze ... as compared to a frost ...

as i tell peeps.. you can always cut it off later.. but you cant staple/tape them back on ....

thinning the interior should not be related to this issue ... if you want/need to do it otherwise.. fine.. but it isnt part of this ...

you are welcome ....

ken

ps: it is already stressed due to the leaf loss ... severe pruning of the good leaves.. due to interior thinning.. may simply be removing more leaves.. that it needs to get over the stress created by the frost ...
botann
12 years ago
Why would frost pick on one plant in a row?

Lack of good drainage could be the problem if it's a pale, washed out, yellow. If it has lost a lot of leaves this could be the problem.

The new growth on some varieties is a bright yellow. New growth comes on in late Spring, however.

I grow a lot of Illex crenata, 'Convexa'.
Mike
Embothrium
12 years ago
Often seen with yellow leaves here, could just be a nitrogen deficiency in my area but I have also seen this attributed to inadequate magnesium.
PRO
Charlesworth Design
8 years ago
I would agree, most likely a nitrogen/magnesium or iron deficiency, try hoeing in some adding Epsom salts around the base or dilute and apply to leaves. Worth noting too that Ilex crenata prefer sandy soils to clay ones.
sam_md
8 years ago

Is the OP still with us? Prolly not. If he is talking about Helleri Holly he may have an issue like this. 'Golden Helleri' was selected for its beautiful golden new growth which eventually greens up.

If he is talking about a holly other than Helleri, I got nothing.

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