I have bought 7 holly bushes that I want to train against a wall,
below a window, but with the plants at the end being trained up the
wall alongside the window - and with time, try to get them to then
grow along the top of the window. So the end result will be a window
in the middle of a holly bush. I have seen this at a house near me -
but have no idea how they achieved this. How do I get started?

Regards,

Ian

On Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:56:23 -0700 (PDT), Ian Waddell
wrote:

I have bought 7 holly bushes that I want to train against a wall,
below a window, but with the plants at the end being trained up the
wall alongside the window - and with time, try to get them to then
grow along the top of the window. So the end result will be a window
in the middle of a holly bush. I have seen this at a house near me -
but have no idea how they achieved this. How do I get started?

Regards,

Ian

Hi Ian

By "train against a wall below a window" I presume you mean your house
wall. Hollies can be dangerous if planted close to structures - their
roots are quite strong and it's not unknown for them to cause
subsidence as they seek out and suck up all the water they can find in
the ground. Personally I would not plant hollies anywhere near a wall
and certainly not too close to the house.

I have a 20 year old holly that's made about 14 feet tall and about 6
feet in diameter. It's main trunk is about 8 inches in diameter at the
base. A six feet diameter tree above ground means that the root system
is also close to 6 feet in diameter!

OTOH, hollies, like all plants, can be trained, at least to a point.
If you really want to risk it, planting two bushes so that their
centres are a couple of feet outside the line of the window on each
side and then filling in the gap should allow you to prune out lateral
growth on the two "on the sides" bushes without revealing too much
bare trunk as the trees age. Simply chop off the "in between" bushes a
bit below the window and any that are outside the two "on the sides"
bushes can be allowed to grow as you will.

Plant the bushes at least a foot (preferably at least two in my view)
away from the wall.

Fix a few strong wires across the top of the window, about a foot
apart and with the lowest about a foot above the window, and when the
bushes reach this height, choose a stong lateral on each side and tie
it in to the wire and let it grow along it. Once the two laterals meet
in the middle, then you can start to prune the underneaths to clear
the window. Similarly tie in laterals to the higher wires as the
bushes gain height.

All pruning should be in early spring.

All that said, hollies are generally slow growing so will take some
years to get to the sort of size you may be looking for (you don't say
how wide or tall your window is and how far the bottom is from the
ground). And, again, if I were you, I wouldn't consider planting a
holly near to my house.

Jake

On Mar 24, 11:08*pm, Jake Nospam@invalid wrote:
On Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:56:23 -0700 (PDT), Ian Waddell

wrote:
I have bought 7 holly bushes that I want to train against a wall,
below a window, but with the plants at the end being trained up the
wall alongside the window - and with time, try to get them to then
grow along the top of the window. *So the end result will be a window
in the middle of a holly bush. *I have seen this at a house near me -
but have no idea how they achieved this. *How do I get started?

Regards,

Ian

Hi Ian

By "train against a wall below a window" I presume you mean your house
wall. Hollies *can be dangerous if planted close to structures - their
roots are quite strong and it's not unknown for them to cause
subsidence as they seek out and suck up all the water they can find in
the ground. Personally I would not plant hollies anywhere near *a wall
and certainly not too close to the house.

I have a 20 year old holly that's made about 14 feet tall and about 6
feet in diameter. It's main trunk is about 8 inches in diameter at the
base. A six feet diameter tree above ground means that the root system
is also close to 6 feet in diameter!

OTOH, hollies, like all plants, can be trained, at least to a point.
If you really want to risk it, planting two bushes so that their
centres are a couple of feet outside the line of the window on each
side and then filling in the gap should allow you to prune out lateral
growth on the two "on the sides" bushes without revealing too much
bare trunk as the trees age. Simply chop off the "in between" bushes a
bit below the window and any that are outside the two "on the sides"
bushes can be allowed to grow as you will.

Plant the bushes at least a foot (preferably at least two in my view)
away from the wall.

Fix a few strong wires across the top of the window, about a foot
apart and with the lowest about a foot above the window, and when the
bushes reach this height, choose a stong lateral on each side and tie
it in to the wire and let it grow along it. Once the two laterals meet
in the middle, then you can start to prune the underneaths to clear
the window. Similarly tie in laterals to the higher wires as the
bushes gain height.

All pruning should be in early spring.

All *that said, hollies are generally slow growing so will take some
years to get to the sort of size you may be looking for (you don't say
how wide or tall your window is and how far the bottom is from the
ground). And, again, if I were you, I wouldn't consider planting a
holly near to my house.

Jake

What you don't say is how wide the window is. An 18" window no problem
but if it's 8ft wide then thats a different matter.

On Mar 24, 9:56*pm, Ian Waddell wrote:
I have bought 7 holly bushes that I want to train against a wall,
below a window, but with the plants at the end being trained up the
wall alongside the window - and with time, try to get them to then
grow along the top of the window. *So the end result will be a window
in the middle of a holly bush. *I have seen this at a house near me -
but have no idea how they achieved this. *How do I get started?

Regards,

Ian

I hope you're prepared to wait a while. Holly doesn't like being
transplanted and is quite slow growing.

In article 0b229ba6-1efd-4746-9ae0-73c438e49045
@l18g2000yqm.googlegroups.com, says...

On Mar 24, 9:56*pm, Ian Waddell wrote:
I have bought 7 holly bushes that I want to train against a wall,
below a window, but with the plants at the end being trained up the
wall alongside the window - and with time, try to get them to then
grow along the top of the window. *So the end result will be a window
in the middle of a holly bush. *I have seen this at a house near me -
but have no idea how they achieved this. *How do I get started?

Regards,

Ian

I hope you're prepared to wait a while. Holly doesn't like being
transplanted and is quite slow growing.

Hollies grown in a pot don't care about transplanting and once
established can easily make 1ft of new growth p.a in all directions.

Janet