Holly bush help

[Pilsy]

Is there any way to stimulate growth toward the bottom of this poor bush? I suspect deer demolished it; it’s looked like this since we moved here 10+ years ago.

[Susie]

Now isn't the right time of year for it, but in spring next year you can prune the tops pretty heavily.  I have hollies under my front windows that had gotten way too big, and I pruned them RUTHLESSLY this May.  They are growing back really nicely.

This was Oct. 2022


Different issue than you have; they were just overall too big. There’s a hose spigot between the windows that was impossible to access, same with an electrical outlet near the downspout.



We cut them waaaaay back in May, they were nothing but sticks with a couple leaves.   I’ll try to take a pic tonight of how they’ve grown back. They look pretty good now, just much smaller and more manageable.

Ours are probably not forever; they are old enough and have a large enough root system that they will forever grow too big, too fast.  But for now, while I work out the rest of the landscaping, I can work with it.

ETA: this is today. Much smaller! Almost all the foliage is new.

[lessel]

I feel like all holly bushes I've ever had end up roughly in this shape. We had really tall ones at our old house that were basically trees. We also had a holly bush dug out that was too close to our garage door and man, the root system was intense. I'm not sure having them that close to the house/foundation is great... but that's my experience with just one maybe aggressive root system.

[Pilsy]

Thank you both! I'll plan to aggressively prune next spring, and in the long term, I'll get something else for that spot. I know so little about plants and landscaping dos/don'ts, I never even thought to guess the placement. I have no idea how long it's been there since it was mature when we bought the house 13 years ago, and I'm curious about the crazy roots now!

[treedimensional]

I agree with everyone who said to prune them hard in spring. If you want them to be that tall, you must prune them narrower at the top than they are at the bottom so the sun can reach the lower foliage. If the top of the shrub casts a shadow, the lower foliage will be shaded out and die.

[sassystace]

Prune them in the Spring and add fertilizer to the soil around them - such as Hollytone.