Holly

[chilly milly]

Hello there, what a good topic.

Could someone offer some advice on a baby holly bush please.

I have a tiny bush that grew out of nowhere in my garden a couple of years ago (I think a bird may have left it for me). It was growing in an awkward place so I decided to plant it in a medium sized pot. It has grown to about a foot high. Just one stem with around 12 leaves on it. However, I have not been able to keep it through the recent hot spell. The leaves are now all brown and crispy. The stem is still green so I am wondering if it is rescuable or has it been duly killed off? Would be a shame if I have lost it, so any advice would be gratefully received.

[Adi F]

Leave it out in the weather but in shade and give it some water and see what happens it is a very hardy plant so you might be surprised.

Holly is one of the most important trees in our history along with oak and yew.

It was taken from the Pagan religion and was placed into the Christian religion. It is also a very useful plant for the woodsmen of our past and still is for us that still enjoy getting out into the outdoors.

If it does come back to life cherish it <_<

[frogesque]

Sensitive things are small holly.

What you could do is place the pot somewhere out of direct sun that's also relatively cool (North side of the house if possible) for the rest of the summer and see if it will come back in the spring next year. Don't over water it, just enough to keep it moist. They are slow growing evergreen trees shedding and replacing leaves throughout the growing season. Young seedlings start out with a deep tap root and can take a long time to recover from stress. A mature tree of known gender and/or variagation and habit can be sucessfully layered but be patient, give it at least a year for the roots to start.

Self set holly are a bit of a mystery until they flower because you don't know whether they are male (no berrys) or female. I find loads of them under the trees when I'm working as there are several fertile females that the birds feed on then do what birds do. <_<

[chilly milly]

Thanks, Adi

I won't give up on it yet then. I was really pleased to receive this little gift and from your reply I can see that it is a plant to treasure. <_<

[chilly milly]

Hmm, I do not know much about the Holly Frogesque, so thank you for the reply. If it manages to recover, how many years would it take until it first flowered?

[frogesque]

Hmm, I do not know much about the Holly Frogesque, so thank you for the reply.  If it manages to recover, how many years would it take until it first flowered?

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Hollys are slow growing and long lived. From seed to first flowering can be up to 20 years or so and both male polinators and female plants are needed to produce a rich crop of berries on the females. A mature tree can easily be over 200 years old and may be over 10m tall.

Couple of online items might intrest you

Paghat's garden Very readable.

biodiversity.org - Native trees of Britain and Ireland - Ilex aquifolium, Holly A little more technical.

[chilly milly]

Thanks for those two sites Frogesque - very interesting reading. Well if we are both still around in 20 years time, I will let you know whether its male or female.

[frogesque]

Edit: Ooops - inadvertantly duplicated my post :o

Edited July 24, 2005 by frogesque

[frogesque]

Thanks for those two sites Frogesque - very interesting reading.  Well if we are both still around in 20 years time, I will let you know whether its male or female.

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:o I'll be pushing 80 if I'm still around but your holly will still be a whipersnapper! Happy gardening - it's the best recipe for lowering stress and a long, interesting, active life.