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Nukawin
Newly Registered
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:58 pm

Holly Bush Emergency

First off, I apologise if this is the wrong thread for this particular bush...

We moved house 5 months ago, to a property with lots more (but not so great) ground around it. The ground here has been very poorly cared for, and overall it's mostly clay and stones with little soil.

Prior to moving in, my dad (who works as a joiner) was offered some plants from someone, who was ripping out his garden in favour for a drive way. My dad jumped at the offer, and soon we had a Japanese Maple, 2 Holly Bushes, and 4 others (I am not sure of their names!)..

Since winter was coming in we planted them all. So far, all but the Holly bushes seem to be doing well.
The hollies have actually got drastically ill. They've lost 90% of their leaves, their branches are turning black, and the remaining leaves are turning brown and have black spots on them.

My mum was very fond of these bushes and for the last couple of months we've been trying to save them, but they've been going downhill. What we can't explain is despite their deterioration, they are clearly still trying to grow, as some fresh new leaves are appearing at the top.

These are not small hollies either, the biggest is around 6ft tall, the other is just over 5ft, but as you'll see from the photos, they are both very very sick (the smaller one being the worse).

This is the 6ft bush:

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And this is the 5ft+ bush:

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We went to the garden centre and asked for help but to be honest I don't think the kid there had a clue on what could possibly be wrong. He sold us a bag of compost (similar to mulch?) and we added it in, in hopes of helping the bushes out a bit.

I'm slowly loosing hope in saving these bushes with how bad they've gotten. :( I fear that the winter weakened them, and in that moment of weakness they contracted an infection and are now slowly dying.

Is there any way we can save these bushes, or are they too far gone to save??? :(

NatureHillsNursery
Cool Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:33 pm

I'm sorry—I wish I had some advice for you. I adore Holly plants. I'm sure you’re disappointed to have these gorgeous shrubs doing so poorly. I hope you can find some cure, but if not, perhaps you can start over with a new plant. Good luck to you.



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