I making a privacy hedge. What do you think of holly?
Question:Do you have any experience? It looks great, is it easy to maintain? Does it flowery regularly?
Answers:
Very nice choice!
Height: 35 to 50 feet
Spread: 15 to 25 feet
Crown uniformity: symmetrical canopy with a
regular (or smooth) outline, and individuals have more
or less identical crown forms
Crown shape: pyramidal
Crown density: dense
Growth rate: slow
Texture: medium
holly berries are poisonous, so if you have pets or children it problably won't be a good idea.
I don't know her personally! But, holly makes a good hedge, flowers alll through the winter but is difficult to trim because it's very prickly. Other than that, yes, I enjoyed it..
I have several hollies and a holly tree. Mine bloom once a year, but the tree blooms for about 3 months. They are gorgeous, but toxic and slow growers if you want privacy. They are also VERY sticky if you have kids. Of course, if someone jumped your fence, they would get stuck (haha). An oleander is easy to grow and quite a fast grower--very hardy in hot weather. Pretty flowers that last a long time, but again this one is toxic to eat.Look on the net for some fast growers in your climate.ps the holly can be tough to trim.
My experience with holly wasn't positive (I didn't plant it, it was there when we moved in). It can grow very large in girth, and overtake a space in time. I didn't find it easy to maintan because It's thorny\prickly and painful to trim\shape, mow around, rake under, etc. - not to mention the kids trying to retrieve a ball from underneath it! There are many choices available that would be more friendly to you than Holly.
What about blueberries? They provide dense folliage, are easy to care for, bloom beautifully in the Spring, provide fruit in Summer, fabulous Fall color, etc.
If you aren't a blueberry lover, what about lilac? A living fence of lilac is both beautiful and long lived.
NO< NO< no privacy hedge ! I've been busted ! you caught me peeking didn't you.. and I thought you liked me watching. darn !
First the holly you use depends on your zone -- English holly only survives in warmer zones.
While it flowers, the flowers are small and could easily be overlooked; also there different flowers on male and female plants (you have to have a male plant to pollinate the female plants and produce berries you see on decorations.
Again depending on location, holly grows quickly but needs sandy well-drained soils.
You have to prune each year to get a real privacy screen, to keep the individual plants "tight" else they will spread out from the plants on either side trying to get sunlight, and get leggy.
the other problem is that most hollies are easily broken, take a long time to fill in broken areas / branches.
I have seen one "hedge" but it was from a line of holly trees planted in rows which didn't get thinned and pruned as they should have been - the main trunks were less than 2 feet apart and while it was a hedge, it was made up of many, many more individual holly trees than was affordable/financially reasonable.
You might consider something else like locusts, locust with spines or needles, NOT the spineless cultivars. Or something like tallhedge (don't know botanical designation) or even fastigiate english oak both of which have a normal habit that makes them good privacy hedges. Again it depends on country and zone.
Hope this helps.
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