Blue Holly Seedling Questions...
Found these very tiny 1" and 2" seedlings growing along a sidewalk at a hospital and I can see the mature bushes they came from trimmed into square-ish hedges, very nice and dense and I assume a type of Blue Holly.
I've seen so many sparse leggy open limbed blue holly shrubs in other gardens- just not attractive...
I'd like to let these seedlings grow naturally- hopefully into a pyramid or conical shape and avoid gettting leggy and open.
I suppose it's impossible to ID them, but any advice on natural shaped blue hollies not pruned into hedge shapes...please share your thoughts with me.
Comments (9)
Sue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoRelated Discussions
Blue Prince vs. Blue Princess Holly
Comments (15)Since you want a dense hedge, you should start pruning before the height you want is reached, so I would severely shorten back, by half or more, any long shoots. However, since you want to give any new growth subsequent to pruning time to harden off before winter, I might, depending on where you are located, and when your first hard freeze is usually (and on when your area stays frozen), wait to do my pruning until spring. You may get some winter die-back anyway, so better to do your shaping in the spring, when you can tell what is dead and what is growing. Next year, I would do any trimming of long shoots as I see them, keeping to your rough shape while allowing for growth. It may be "slower" to establish the shape roughly now, and keep it roughly trimmed, but it will grow up much more densely than if you let shoots grow to the height you want and then cut them. I would do a lightish clipping several times a season, to establish and keep the shape you want. Just remember that hedges need to be narrower at their tops than at their bases - shaded branches are MUCH more apt to die out on you. The ultimate shape can be with a square top or with a rounded top, but the sides should slant down to the ground, growing wider as they go - it can be a very slight taper, but it MUST taper....See MoreBlue princess/prince holly in shade?
Comments (4)hey just plant them where you want. .. they will either thrive or they wont.. why waste time worrying about it all??? full sun is somewhere between 6 and 8 hours of direct sun ... and that is necessary on some plants.. to grow and perform properly ... e.g. a tomato will not grow a large number of fruit [whats that all about] ... w/o full sun ... will it grow green in the shade.. probably ... will it thrive or preform to its potential ?? .. doubtful .... ANYTHING LESS THAN FULL SUN IS SHADE ... PART SHADE ... PART THIS.. PART THAT ... it is confusing that there are multiple terms for everything other than full sun .. but they all mean the same thing... LESS THAN FULL SUN just understand that the tag means it will tolerate less than full sun ... if it end up too dark .. the plant.. over the years.. will become thin .. reaching for sun .. lean ... etc.. you will understand that 'something' is wrong ... basically.. its too dark ... and at that point you will shrug and say to yourself.. live and learn .. and then figure out how to move them ... good luck ken...See MoreHolly Seedlings in the winter question
Comments (2)If for whatever reason you want to wait until Spring to transplant, you could as you suggest bury the pot (and mulch some). Or, alternatively if you have a place that is very cool (but free of heavy frost), you can hold them there until Spring (a sunny garage, the attic, etc.), but I WOULD NOT bring them into my living room. Fall is an ideal time for transplanting--I've even planted Blue Princess in mid-winter (as long as the ground isn't frozen). But I wonder about the small size of those plants of yours and the appropriateness of planting now. I probably would hold off until Spring and keep them in my garage until then. Good luck!...See More2 questions on blue prince holly
Comments (4)We ought to just change the name of this forum to "Conifers and Hollies" LOL. Yellowing is a bit of a mystery to me. My experience with hollies - which is pretty extensive in the past couple years - is that they will have droopy new growth as a sign of drought stress. Watering "here and there" is a little worrisome. To establish a plant well, you should give it infrequent, deep waterings. Assuming it was in at least a gallon container, up there in MA you could probably get away with a deep watering every month in the summer, for a newly planted holly. That would mean leaving a hose on trickle for at least a couple hours, maybe even 4, so that the ground surrounding the plant in completely moist. OK...if you have very fast draining sand, it might be a little more pragmatic to water less every 2 weeks. But most hollies are drought tolerant and you shouldn't need to do it more often than that. A worker at Styer's in PA told me that a lot of people think spritzing the plant every day counts as 'watering' and that this accounted for a lot of their dead plant returns....See More
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoThe article is true that holly seeds can take a VERY long time to germinate. Sometimes more than two or even three years! They often require multiple winters for the hard seed coat to break down.
Regarding what your seedlings will look like. Only time will tell. Most likely they will never look just like one or the other parent, but rather will share characteristics of both in uneven quantities. It will still be called a Blue Holly, unless for some reason there was another male species that was blooming at the same time. But to me, your seedlings look similar to most blue hollies. They should also have excellent hardiness.
I have a mature 'Castle Spire' holly (one the Blue hollies) near the corner of my house. I am finding numerous seedlings underneath it. I have grown up a number of them and am amazed at the diversity of leaf shapes, vigor and plant form/shape that these seedlings express. See pic below of one of the seedlings that has incredibly small leaves.
I would imagine yours could eventually take on a pyramidal form. If not, they should be easy to shear to that form. But I would expect forms also to be intermediate between the those of the two species. I'm not sure I've ever seen a pure Ilex rugosa, so don't know what form that species is. Maybe it's more low and spreading?
All the best!
Sue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh thanked Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7ASue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
4 months agoSue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
4 months agoSue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
4 months agoPS..also for Dave in NoVA...a photo of Ilex rugosa I found online. It has the narrow leaves of your unusual holly seeding- but you have more spikes on edges of leaves and yours is blue and seems more vertical than horizontal!
photo source & more info: https://en.hortipedia.com/Ilex_rugosa
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
4 months agolast modified: 4 months agoSue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh thanked Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7ASue Hughes Zone 6b in Pittsburgh
4 months ago
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A