JennyC wrote in message
"Spider" wrote
Hi
I promised to post some pictures of my browning holly
bush.........:
http://members.rott.chello.nl/ldejag...x.OddsSods.htm


Jenny,
Your holly is very close to a wall, which means it is more subject
to soil
dryness generally and drought specifically. It appears to be
scorched ..
and hungry. Do you feed it?

I've fed it and it's kept well watered, along with all the other
palnts in that bed..........
I know it looks scorched, that's what's so puzzeling !

I don't rule out pests or diseases (I will do a spot of research),
but I'm
sure it would help if its general health was improved.
Yes, certainly remove any fallen leaves .. then fork some general
fertiliser
into the soil around the base of the plant .. water thoroughly, then
mulch.

Will do

As to pruning: if the plant IS starved, removing leaves and plant
tissue now
will only exacerbate the problem. If it were my holly, I would wait
2-4
weeks after feeding and then reassess the plant. The top growth of
your
holly looks better than the sides, so I would only cut back the side
growth
this year. Next year may show an improvement. If it does, I would
then
want to cut back the top growth to promote growth on the sides.
Hope this helps.
Spider

The new growth is indeed OK, that was why I thought of pruning hard so
that the new growth would replace the old. But I can see your point
about waiting a bit............With the heatwave at the moment I
certainly do not feel like doing an gardening at all except watering
when the sun has gone down :~))

Jenny