Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

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Casutherland
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Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 1st, 2017, 4:05 pm

I despise these holy shrubs. They are a pain to trim, and the clippings are prickly, and just plain suck.

Can you guys help me with something that I can plant here instead. Keep in mind that this is my front yard. It gets about 6-8 hours of sun a day.


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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by MorpheusPA » May 1st, 2017, 7:49 pm

Soft touch holly? Those are As Advertised and grow about the same height as what I see there. While trimming will be necessary occasionally, it's easy and the clippings are--as mentioned--soft.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 1st, 2017, 9:44 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 1st, 2017, 7:49 pm
Soft touch holly? Those are As Advertised and grow about the same height as what I see there. While trimming will be necessary occasionally, it's easy and the clippings are--as mentioned--soft.
Right now they are "softer" because the leaves are new. Once they get hard they get annoying. I'm just not a huge fan. They aren't extremely attractive

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by TimmyG » May 1st, 2017, 10:01 pm

I believe Morpheus may have been recommending Ilex crenata 'Soft Touch', not questioning if your existing hollies were soft to the touch.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 1st, 2017, 10:18 pm

TimmyG wrote:
May 1st, 2017, 10:01 pm
I believe Morpheus may have been recommending Ilex crenata 'Soft Touch', not questioning if your existing hollies were soft to the touch.
Wow...that's what happens when you try to read while washing your car..sorry Morph.


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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by MorpheusPA » May 2nd, 2017, 5:59 am

Giggle. Well, your car's clean and no harm done.

Yep, I was suggesting "Soft Touch" holly. I have a couple, they're very nice.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by killerv » May 2nd, 2017, 7:40 am

looks like maybe softtouch is in the background on the left of the pic. If you get 6-8 hours of sunlight, you have a ton of choices. Gardenias would be a nice choice.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 2nd, 2017, 11:18 am

Now that I actually took the time to look up "soft touch" holly's, I believe that I have a row of them next to my house. You can see them in the upper left corner of the picture.

I think that Gardenia's may be very nice there in the front. They will complement my double knockout rose bush.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by TimmyG » May 2nd, 2017, 3:39 pm

Keep in mind that 'Soft Touch' is a specific compact cultivar of Ilex crenata, a.k.a. Japanese holly. There are MANY other cultivars. More common Japanese hollies used as foundation planting grow larger and require yearly if not bi-yearly pruning.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 6th, 2017, 10:13 pm

Casutherland wrote:
May 2nd, 2017, 11:18 am
Now that I actually took the time to look up "soft touch" holly's, I believe that I have a row of them next to my house. You can see them in the upper left corner of the picture.

I think that Gardenia's may be very nice there in the front. They will complement my double knockout rose bush.
Took your advice and dug up the hollys and planted a gardenia bush instead. I hope it does alright. I have heard they struggle down here.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by maynardGkeynes » May 8th, 2017, 10:19 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 2nd, 2017, 5:59 am
Yep, I was suggesting "Soft Touch" holly. I have a couple, they're very nice.
Just curious, but they look quite a bit like boxwoods to me. Is that so? I ask because, unfortunately, my Eng boxwoods may be in decline due to this fungus thing that started a few years back now. Would the soft touch holly be a reasonable facsimile in your view? Can you keep them tightly trimmed, in a "globe" shape, like you can with boxwoods?

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by TimmyG » May 8th, 2017, 12:40 pm

Japanese hollies are very small leaved and do resemble boxwoods. They also take kindly to pruning. On the HUGE plus side, hollies do not smell like cat urine.

As I noted above, 'Soft Touch' is a compact cultivar, specifically cultivated to avoid the need for routine pruning when used in an appropriate setting. Just be sure to choose the cultivar that suits your size needs.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 8th, 2017, 12:55 pm

So I keep hearing horror stories about trying to grow a gardenia bush. Ive heard that more people kill them, or the bush dies, than success stories.

Killerv, so you have any suggestions? Or does anyone have any suggestions to help make this bush succeed?

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by killerv » May 9th, 2017, 7:48 am

Never heard of them being an issue. Gardenias in the south are a staple. Easy shrubs to grow, the only thing you have going against you is you planted it now and not last fall. I literally plant them in the fall and forget them other than fertilizing them a little during the growing season. You'll just have to check when/if they need water throughout this summer.

As far as holly vs boxwood, holly leaves alternate, boxwoods leaves are straight across from each other.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 9th, 2017, 9:09 am

killerv wrote:
May 9th, 2017, 7:48 am
Never heard of them being an issue. Gardenias in the south are a staple. Easy shrubs to grow, the only thing you have going against you is you planted it now and not last fall. I literally plant them in the fall and forget them other than fertilizing them a little during the growing season. You'll just have to check when/if they need water throughout this summer.

As far as holly vs boxwood, holly leaves alternate, boxwoods leaves are straight across from each other.
Well see, I thought the same, but everyone that I have talked to around here has said they they die easily if not properly cared for. I purchased some acidic fertilizer and have been watering it daily since I put it in the ground. Hoping that will help..it is fairly small right now, and I have heavy clay soil. Guess we will find out lol.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by killerv » May 9th, 2017, 1:00 pm

You are probably going to kill them worrying about them too much, just feel the soil near the crown every few days and see if they need water. Fertilizer wasn't necessary on a plant straight from a nursery. You didn't amend the soil...just left it clay? that ain't good.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 9th, 2017, 1:36 pm

killerv wrote:
May 9th, 2017, 1:00 pm
You are probably going to kill them worrying about them too much, just feel the soil near the crown every few days and see if they need water. Fertilizer wasn't necessary on a plant straight from a nursery. You didn't amend the soil...just left it clay? that ain't good.
No i didnt..its only been in the ground a couple of days..think I should get some compost or garden soil and mix it in with the clay? Then re-plant?

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by killerv » May 10th, 2017, 7:31 am

Remove the clay. Dig a hole 3 times wider than the root ball and a several inches deeper than the root ball, fill it up with good garden soil and replant, then mulch.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by nclawnguy » May 12th, 2017, 5:59 pm

killerv wrote:
May 10th, 2017, 7:31 am
Remove the clay. Dig a hole 3 times wider than the root ball and a several inches deeper than the root ball, fill it up with good garden soil and replant, then mulch.
Honestly, this is terrible advise. You never want to amend the planting hole, expecially with clay. I have planted hundreds of shrubs and trees, always put back what you dig out then add 3-4" of mulch. Digging a hole, then filling with garden soil will create a bath tub effect that might cause root rot.

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Re: Hate these Holly Shrubs - Need Help with Replacement

Post by Casutherland » May 14th, 2017, 10:49 pm

nclawnguy wrote:
May 12th, 2017, 5:59 pm
killerv wrote:
May 10th, 2017, 7:31 am
Remove the clay. Dig a hole 3 times wider than the root ball and a several inches deeper than the root ball, fill it up with good garden soil and replant, then mulch.
Honestly, this is terrible advise. You never want to amend the planting hole, expecially with clay. I have planted hundreds of shrubs and trees, always put back what you dig out then add 3-4" of mulch. Digging a hole, then filling with garden soil will create a bath tub effect that might cause root rot.
Eh, it is kind of too late for that now...I guess I will just have to see what happens at this point :/

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