In article ,
c (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

A lot of people call it Holly, it's not. I have a bunch of it in my
front yard.
I have two questions.
When, like now, can I cut it back and how far back? Some of it's about 20"
tall, but I would like it to be lower.
And, when I cut off the new growth, not the growth that will come back from
cutting the plant back, but the growth that keeps coming to enable the
plant to
spread in the area it covers, can I clip off this growth and hit it with
Brush-B-Gon or with this damage the plant?

It's a very hedgeable plant & will bounce back from whatever you do to it
pruning wise, though some of the naturally dwarf mahonias have a
relatively slow growth rate, so you should try to sheer in a way that
gives good appearance immediately, in case it doesn't bush back very fast.

Dig up suckers & unwanted side-branches, but don't poison them. If you
poison the sucker it will likely effect the parent plant, as they're
attached underground. Take out some of the dirt along with suckers & plant
in pots to give to chums.

On Mahonia aquifolium:
http://www.paghat.com/oregongrape.html
On Mahonia repens:
http://www.paghat.com/oregongrape2.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/