At the bottom of our new land are several hollies that have self seeded.
Three of them very close together are about 25' now and a lovely shape
so we hope to preserve them. However several smaller hollies are
growing up in front of them, I would guess about 10-20 of them. Some of
them seemed to have layered ( is that the correct term? ) from hanging
branches, others possibly seeds? or suckers? None were very big and we
have cut them all back as we do not want a holly forest.
We would like to prevent regrowth. Digging out the roots will be
impossible because of the holly branches above. Would it be safe to
spray them with some sort of root killer or would that compromise the
main trees if they are growing as suckers?

Also, once the hard landscaping is finished we would like to plant a
few shrubs in front the hollies. The hollies would be on the eastern
side of the bed so shade would not be a problem. If we kept them well
watered till established should there be any problem with planting near
these big trees?


--
trin

In article <trin.29oy81 [at] gardenbanter.co.uk>,
trin <trin.29oy81 [at] gardenbanter.co.uk> writes:
|>
|> At the bottom of our new land are several hollies that have self seeded.
|> Three of them very close together are about 25' now and a lovely shape
|> so we hope to preserve them. However several smaller hollies are
|> growing up in front of them, I would guess about 10-20 of them. Some of
|> them seemed to have layered ( is that the correct term? )

Yes.

|> from hanging
|> branches, others possibly seeds? or suckers?

Probably seed. Hollies do not sucker much, as far as I know. And they
aren't notorious for regrowing from stumps, so shouldn't be too hard to
get rid of. My guess is that they won't regrow if you simply take the
stumps down to below ground level, but that is a guess.

|> Also, once the hard landscaping is finished we would like to plant a
|> few shrubs in front the hollies. The hollies would be on the eastern
|> side of the bed so shade would not be a problem. If we kept them well
|> watered till established should there be any problem with planting near
|> these big trees?

Will the rain reach them? The less that does, the more drought resistant
the shrubs will need to be, but there are some that actually prefer the
(partial) rain shadow of trees.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

trin Wrote:
> At the bottom of our new land are several hollies that have self seeded.
> Three of them very close together are about 25' now and a lovely shape
> so we hope to preserve them. However several smaller hollies are
> growing up in front of them, I would guess about 10-20 of them. Some of
> them seemed to have layered ( is that the correct term? ) from hanging
> branches, others possibly seeds? or suckers? None were very big and we
> have cut them all back as we do not want a holly forest.
> We would like to prevent regrowth. Digging out the roots will be
> impossible because of the holly branches above. Would it be safe to
> spray them with some sort of root killer or would that compromise the
> main trees if they are growing as suckers?
>
> Also, once the hard landscaping is finished we would like to plant a
> few shrubs in front the hollies. The hollies would be on the eastern
> side of the bed so shade would not be a problem. If we kept them well
> watered till established should there be any problem with planting near
> these big trees?

Holly can send up suckers, so a herbicide would not be the best idea.

I would dig out as much of the tree's you wish to remove, put down a
heavy duty membrane and new topsoil on top of that.
Plant into the new topsoil.
There should be no problem planting there so long as suitable plants
are used, yes water well for the first season (if needed), once they
are established they shouldnt be a problem.


--
penance