new to shrubs: what about holly?
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8 years ago
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Which shrub to replace 'Sky Pencil' holly in Zone 8?
Comments (4)You might be right about them getting too dry at times, but at every visit I made over a period of about 12 months; between the time the shrubs were planted in mid September and the following late August: the root balls of those holly shrubs always seemed moist. I never discovered them or the soil in the bed to be too dry or too soggy wet. Sorry that I neglected to mention, in the first post, that a soaker hose had been used weekly for deep watering. The lighter hand watering, applied morning and night, served to boost the moisture which had depleted, between the weekly soaking periods; due to the exceptional drainage that the significantly sloping, 8' wide side yard created, and the harsh drought combined with the excessive, daily high temps that endured for such long periods of time over the summer. So I still would appreciate advice on what if any non Japanese cultivar holly shrubs have the same growth pattern of the 'Sky Pencil' and can take the currently occuring USDA zone 8 conditons; in an area receiving direct noontime to evening sun, and for at least the last 8- 10 daylight hours in the longest day part of the summer....See MoreHolly shrub diseased
Comments (3)Scale insects produce honeydew, just like aphids. Ants love it, they protect the scale. Some of the sticky dew falls on the leaves and then mould grows on it. It is black and unsightly but not terribly damaging. Control the scale and the black mould will wash away. You can scrape of scale insects by hand with your thumbnail or a small stick. For larger plants you can keep the ants out of the hollies which will leave the scale vulnerable to predators, slow but quite effective. Or you can use a soap spray, effective but only if you get good coverage and that means underneath the leaves where most scale live. Or you can use a systemic insecticide. There are also sticky traps which capture the crawlers, young scale which move about at this time of years before settling in one spot as adults....See MoreWhite substance like mold under holly and spirea shrubs
Comments (2)Many gardenias have some yellow leaves at this time of year, especially in the interior and lower portions of the shrub. Evergreen doesn't mean that the given plant NEVER loses leaves, just that they don't normally lose them all at once. I forget the exact length of the life-cycle for gardenia leaves, but it's either 2 or 3 years, as I recall. The oldest ones turn yellow, fall off and are replaced. Ample water, and a bit of an acid-based fertilizer (Holly-Tone is a good one) will speed the process. The past 2 years of drought haven't helped a lot of trees and shrubs.... Spireas are deciduous - they naturally lose their leaves in the fall and re-grow them in the spring. Yours may be dropping early, but, again, it's a natural reaction to drought. If the house was empty before you bought it, or if you live in an area that was under watering restrictions, then the plants may have suffered from the drought. The white, fluffy stuff, as Ken says, is probably one of the mold/fungus/etc. that are breaking down the wood chips, or other organic matter in the soil. Usually, the "whatever" works underground - what you see above ground is usually the "fruiting body" of a fungus, etc. Eventually, in a couple of days or weeks, it will dry out, and send up clouds of spores to light down elsewhere and carry on the process. If you google for slime mold or for fungus, you might be able to identify it. Just in case, I would keep kids or pests away until it has been identified as harmless. If you can post a picture, someone here can probably ID it for you....See MoreThoughts on removing old Holly shrubs?
Comments (1)A few years back my parents had to remove several mature burford holly bushes that had sunk their roots into their septic drain field. The bushes had large trunks and extensive root systems. In order to remove them Dad cut them down to a couple feet tall and dug a trench around each bush, cutting all the major roots that he could find. Then he wrapped ropes around the trunk and tied it to the trailor hitch on their van in order to pull each bush out of the ground. I have seen where people have trimmed them up from the ground into small trees. If you can't get them out of the ground you could try going that route. Kara...See MoreUser
8 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agoEmbothrium
8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agoUser
8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agodavidrt28 (zone 7)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years ago
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