Holly tree

hbrac · Holly tree

Can anybody recommend a nice species of Ilex aquifolium (holly) to make a screen at the bottom of the garden? I'm sure that the Clampitts are poisoning my conifer hedge. It's getting more brown by the minute and there are gaps now where their kitchen light shines through at night and I can see them moving around :evil:
Anyone know about the self pollinating species J.C van Tol ? .. ...less prickly leaves with golden edges and purple branches.

Guest1

Hil..if theyre killing the conifers, theyll do the same with owt else, will they not? And, holly takes eons to grow.

hbrac

Well the shrubs in the beds infront of the conifers are OK so I was going to remove the ones that are small and replace with the holly trees. I have the tree guy coming tomorrow to trim another hedge so I will ask him for any ideas.

Guest1

You want a huge fence with a trellis on top....then grow an evergreen clematis thru the trellis for extra height.

hbrac

That is a good idea Mick. The conifer hedge is about 7.5 ft high. I was thinking of buying some of that roll screening, some are bamboo, you know the type, and running that along . Tree man said he thought there were white mites on the conifer leaves. The shrub on the left has been attacked by ? vine weevils.Do they attack conifers too ? I phoned J.A. Jones in Southport and somebody was meant to ring me back but didn't

Apparently they specialise in more mature trees and shrubs. Obviously would cost more for larger trees though. Hubby is not happy with the amount of dosh that we are shelling out on tree trimming. :evil:

hbrac

I took a conifer leaf to our local garden centre and he said it looked like white mites!! ( Perhaps the neighbours are exonerated).So today all the manky stuff has been sprayed with Provado Bug killer, a systemic solution that gets right into the trees. Let's see if it helps. They also suggested a laurel hedge would grow quicker, so I think I may now go for that instead of the holly.

Guest1

hbrac

Sorry...branch

Tango Bunny

As Mick says....go for an evergreen clematis you can't go wrong with them
I prefer the Cirrhosa rather than the Armandii variety of evergreens. cirrhosa 'Freckles' is a nice one.
Also evergreen honeysuckle gives quite good cover and as it goes woody you could grow a clematis through it at a later date

hbrac

Sounds like a disease you get if you drink too much Tango.

Trust you to prefer that variety!

Tango Bunny

here it is Hills
It's a really pretty variety as the flowers are all spotty

Guest1

can you make that pic bigger Tango?

Tango Bunny

which one Mick....the clematis or the witch

hbrac

hbrac

Got 4 lovely laurel shrubs from the garden centre. £7.99 each but I picked the ones that were just as big as the £15.99 ones next to them. The gardener has put them in infront of the conifers so hopefully by the spring I will see some growth as it starts to fill in the dead areas behind. I know it will all be a bit green so I will have to plant something low and colourful in front.

Guest1

Once the laurels get established, they should fair shoot up. Make sure they get plenty of water all year, as conifers drain the ground round them something shocking.