Plant Pathology Infobytes

August 18, 1998
Hollies Grow Great in the Home Landscape

Hollies are among the most popular ornamental plants and may be used in the landscape for purposes such as hedges, screens, and foundation or border plantings. Also, the foliage and berries make great Christmas decorations.

Many hollies are native to this country. With the many available species and varieties for the wide range of uses, it's easy to understand why these plants continue to gain in popularity as a desirable landscape plant.

In general, the hollies are extremely hardy and are usually grown and perform best in a slightly acid soil. Also, like other plants, they perform better in well-drained soil.

Hollies for the most part are subject to attack by only a few disease-causing organisms. Many times poor appearance of plants is often caused by improper planting, dry weather, cold damage, and planting varieties that are not adapted to our area. The amount of damage from diseases on hollies can be minimized by giving plants plenty of growing space, drainage, and pruning out all diseased twigs and branches as they appear.

There are several leaf spots which occur on holly. Of these, tar spot is the most severe. This fungus disease may occur at any time during the growing season, but tends to be more prevalent later in the growing season.

Yellow spots are the first sign of this disease. These spots later turn dark brown and by fall are almost completely black. When possible, diseased leaves should be gathered and destroyed.

This sanitary step should be followed by several applications of a broad spectrum fungicide such as maneb, ferbam or a copper fungicide, such as Bordeaux mixture. As an added plus, these fungicides are also effective for other leaf spots and die-back which occur on hollies.


Written by the late Dr. Frank Killebrew

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