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Holly hedge from cuttings
PoddingtonP
Posts: 196
in Plants
I'm hoping to plant a holly hedge, but wondered whether it would be possible to plant it directly from cuttings. I've read that semi hard wood cuttings in spring/summer is the way forward, but all techniques I've read, involve pots and bottom heat. I was going to just shove them in the ground where they are to grow with a bit of rooting hormone on. Is this likely to work? Foolish or prudent?
Thoughts please!
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Posts
I believe Hollies are very slow to root.
I used to find hundreds of holly seedlings near my mature female holly, I think these would be easier to use for a hedge - assuming you have an obliging tree nearby.
I planted small holly bushes from seedlings in the garden.
There are a few seedlings near the bushes and hedges around me that I'm going to transplant, but would need a few cuttings to bulk it out. Might must give it a go and see what happens.
I have left trimmed branches lying on the ground and they have rooted. I have seedlings popping up all over the garden thanks to the local bird population. As far as my garden is concerned holly roots only too easily and is fairly fast growing too.
Great. Thanks steephill. Am going to give it a go.
Holly is very slow growing and doing it from cuttings would add several years to the time you'd have to wait to get a hedge of any size. I think you should ask yourself how quickly you need a hedge to be acting as a boundary and how long you expect to be in the current garden.
If the answer to the either is less than 10 to 15 years I suggest you go and buy some small plants from a hedging specialist and plant them in very well prepared soil so they get away quickly and grow strongly.
Mike, the hedge is to be in front of a chicken wire fence, along the side of the drive with a shrub border to be planted infront - Cornus sanguinea Midwinterfire, Kilmarnock willow, Japanese acer and some other things I haven't wuite decided on yet. It will be quite a long hedge about 10 metres.
obelixx, I dont NEED it as a boundary, just to cover the ugly chicken wire fence and field access track behind it.
Holly seemed more expensive than other hedging plants when I looked before, as I assumed you can't get it bare root like deciduous ones, but I might be wrong and am willing to be corrected. Will do some more research into hedging specialists.