#Sky pencil holly turning brown windows

It can be clipped to an even narrower profile, but for low-maintenance neatness, its hard to beat. Since it thrives in shade the building shade in these narrow areas is not a problem at all for this plant.

#Sky pencil holly turning brown windows

Planted 18 to 24 inches apart, its easy to create a thin screen in an area just a few feet wide, with enough height to screen ground-floor windows completely. Because it is so narrow, it is ideal for that special problem of the suburbs and town houses – privacy from a neighbor just a few feet away. It’s great as a narrow column for an accent, growing well in sun or shade. To show how variable Japanese holly is, this plant grows 8 to 10 feet tall, but never more than 2 or 3 feet across. Even unclipped it is dense, but of course with clipping it will be even denser and neater. It grows 2 or 3 feet tall, and the same size across, so it makes a lovely small mound for planting among smaller shrubs, or a low hedge to edge a bed. It forms a dense, rounded shrub with spineless leaves a little less than an inch long. We think of ‘holly’ and ‘spiny leaves’ at the same moment, but this dwarf selection of Japanese holly lacks spines, which is why it has this name. This plant is very variable in form, ranging from small, rounded and low shrubs to striking narrow, upright specimens. The Japanese holly is a little variable in hardiness, so it’s a good idea to select the variety you use carefully. It does have berries, but sadly these are black, not red, so they don’t make a conspicuous winter display. With those smaller leaves it is ideal for smaller specimens and hedges, leaving the bigger hedges to other forms. Japanese holly grows in Japan, China and Korea, and is different in appearance to other hollies, because the leaves are much smaller – small enough that it is often called the box-leaf holly. Just as with boxwoods, Asian species of holly are tougher than their European relatives, so wise American gardeners in cooler areas turn to them for help. Since some of the plants in this last group is hardy in zone 4 as well, we will consider those later, and focus on the first two for the moment. The English Holly ( Ilex aquifolium), is not hardy below zone 6, and the best choices for zone 5 are Japanese Holly ( Ilex crenata), American Holly ( Ilex opaca), and the Meserve hybrid hollies. If you live in zone 5, with winter lows going down to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, you have a lot of choices, so it won’t be hard to find a cold-hardy holly for your garden. This problem mostly affects gardeners in zones 4 and 5, so let’s look at those zones, and see what the top-choice holly bushes are for those colder areas.

If you live in zone 6 or warmer, you can choose almost any of the hollies, and winter-damage will not be an issue. So when you choose which varieties to plant, an important consideration is the zone you live in, and the hardiness of the trees you are looking at.

If it is too cold for them, then the leaves will burn and dry, and stems may die too, making it hard or impossible to get the results you want. Holly dieback due to Phytophthora root rot in a root cell.The only problem is, the different kinds of hollies vary a lot in winter hardiness. Apply a fungicide as a soil drench to protect healthy roots. Inspect the roots of containerized hollies before planting. Plants are stunted and have branch dieback. In the autumn, a flat black, cushion-shaped fungal structure forms beneath the leaf surface. Small, yellow spots form on leaves and turn reddish brown with a small, yellow halo later in the summer. Once thought to be caused by the sharp points of leaves puncturing each other, spine spot is now known to be caused by the ovipositing of certain insects. Pinhead-sized or larger spots frequently surrounded by a purple halo appear on leaves in late winter and early spring. Protect surrounding plants with a fungicide. Do not replace it with a woody ornamental unless the planting site is first fumigated and aerated thoroughly. Branches and eventually the entire plant dies. If the shrub is replaced, first fumigate and thoroughly aerate the soil. Care for plants well so that they are not under stress from other factors. The root system is small and has dead areas, as well as galls in some cases.Ĭriconemella, Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, or TylenchorhynchusĪn analysis of soil and roots must be done to confirm that nematodes are actually causing the symptoms. Yellowing, stunting, and twig dieback occur. Young leaves formed during cool, damp weather are damaged easily if exposed to hot, dry, windy weather. Tiny, black fungal fruiting structures pepper the spot surface as a result of attack by a secondary fungus. Circular to irregular, tan spots appear in early spring or summer.