Hello, I purchased eight Ilex vomitoria "Schilling's dwarf"
Yaupon
holly plants to use as a miniature hedge underneath my oak
trees. I
live in the hot, tropical part of Florida.

When I got home, I noticed the tag said "full sun," something I
did
not notice while in the store.

First, has anyone here had any luck growing Schilling's Yaupon
holly
in partial or complete shade? I have read that it "grows best
in full
sun," but where I live, we have plants that say they take "full
sun,"
but actually grow better in partial shade because the sun is
very
intense here.

This isn't really an appropriate topic for a bonsai list (you
might try rec.gardens), but . . .

They'll do fine in anything but DEEP shade and they'll probably
survive there but will be quite thin and leggy.


Second, would this be a hard plant to keep trimmed to
approximately
one foot high, one foot wide, and three feet long? I am not an
expert
hedger/trimmer, so I have a lot to learn. (Two shapes I have
considered: (a) a rounded one-foot-by-one-foot; (b) a
one-foot-high by
one-foot-high by three-foot-long oval)

Ugly, but they'll survive -- boxwood might have been better (and
cheaper).


Third, I am wondering if planting this so closely to my live
oak trees
(the dwarf holly will be a hedge encircling the oaks) will
damage or
encroach on the oaks. I have read that this type of holly has
a
hardy, widespread root system.

The holly is more likely to suffer than the oak. If these are
large oaks, you MAY find that you have a very hard time digging
holes for these plants because oak roots are thick and always so
close to the surface. Digging the holes and cutting the oak
roots could damage the oak if it is smallish.


Fourth, is the plant easily contained within a specified
growing area?
I would like to easily keep it contained with clippers. If it
tends
to creep and spread underground and slowly take over my lawn, I
wouldn't be too happy with it. (I don't want to end up
fighting to
eradicate it from my lawn.)

I Vimitoria doesn't spread invasively, and since the Schillings
doesn't flower or fruit you won't have seeding problems.
"Easily" is another matter. Hedges are very high maintenance.


Instructions are to plant the plants four feet apart. If I want
to
keep them at a dwarf size of one-foot-wide by one-foot-high,
what
happens if I plant them closer together; say, two feet apart?

You have more holes to dig.


If there are better choices for a miniature hedge underneath my
oaks,
I would be open to suggestions. I have heard of a type of
Japanese
boxwood with a serrated, very tiny leaf, but do not know the
species
or if it even exists.

B. microphylla 'Kingsville dwarf', but if you need a hedge,
this'll be fine -- especially since you've already bought them.
Though I must say, 8 plants doesn't sound like much of a "hedge."

But please remember the rec.gardens newsgroup when you have
general gardening questions like these.

Jim Lewis - - This economy is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

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