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Sad looking Holly!

Carol 13Carol 13 Posts: 31
in Problem solving

My Daughter has a Holly bush in her garden, it is shaped like an umbrella. She has asked me to try and rejuvenate it.

It has bare branches up to the last 2-3 inches and its generally very bare.

I plan on trimming back each of the branches then giving it a good water and feed. My question is, can I cut all the leaves off so I get the shape better or just trim the ends of each branch (leaving a little foliage) I have read that it will grow from dormant leaf buds if cut right back?

Please help as I don't want to kill it!!

Posts

  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923

    you wont kill it, holly responds well to a hard prune.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Years ago we had a really rough looking one, hacked it right back to a stump, assuming it would die. OH even had a bonfire almost on top of it. It grew back to a beautiful plant in a very few years



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Carol 13Carol 13 Posts: 31

    That's great news, is this the right time of year to give it a hair cut then??

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