Holly bush - fence?

polr

Hi,

I am trying to cover a fence but I don't want the depth of the coverage to be too deep and eat into the lawn area too much. I'm using things like Ivy but I really want a holly bush somewhere. Is it possible to get a holly that wold work along a fence either through pruning (I know next to nothing about this) or is there one that is a creeper style?!

What's the best time to buy one? I'm sure a few years ago I asked at a local garden centre around Oct (Dobbies) and was told it wasn't the time of year.

TIA

DigForVictory

Holly is not an easy bush to propagate from cuttings so either have a bash now (cost to you, asking a holly bush owner, rooting hormone powder & a bag of sand) or wait til spring & start scheming with the deals or asking for national garden centre tokens...

I_have_spoken

TBH I've never seen anyone train holly in that way, anyone doing ilex topiary is pruning to be a half-standard 'lolipop'; suggests they don't take to be trained along wires to be flat against the fence.

Pyracanthas and cotoneaster can be trained to be flat against a fence and will be evergreen with berries like a holly, also a lot quicker to get results!

Davesnave

OP, I wouldn't recommend propagation from cuttings, as hollies are not easy, even for the experienced, and if successful, it would still be years before you could plant out.

While you could fan-train a holly, as IHS says, it probably wouldn't look good enough to reward the considerable effort involved. I would look at the alternatives he's suggested, with a warning that some types of cotoneaster are, perhaps, too vigorous.

Now is a good time to plant most shrubs.

polr

Thank you! Looks like I need to find somewhere else to plant one and stump up for one from a garden centre. I'm not very greenfingered but I know I have a cotoneaster already so will look into a pyracanthas too.

zaax

A holly is not a quick growing plant and will take quite a time to get a hedge of a decent size of 20'- (needing full sun and watering), which will be after a wooden fence will need replacing (15 to 20 years) .

sheramber

To get berries on a holly bush you need a male and a female bush for fertilisation.

andymandy

Pyracanthus would be more suitable as they can be trimmed quite flat against a wall, My holly stands to far out even though it is trimmed regularly for flower arrangements.

SailorSam

A couple of months ago i bought about 10 different small shrubs in Aldi, i think they were less than £2 each. I've only planted them into buckets for the moment but they're all starting to grow,
Don't know if they still have them.