Pruning Leggy Holly

The Right Plant

• Before undertaking a pruning project, check to make sure you’ve put the right plant in the right place. Hollies grow in a variety of shapes and sizes, from low-growing mounds a few feet round to 15-foot shrubs and spires to 30 feet. Some hollies, such as Inkberry (Ilex glabra), hardy from USDA zones 4 through 9, grow almost anywhere, but others, such as yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) or English holly (Ilex Aquifolium), both hardy from USDA zones 7 through 9, have a limited range. Never force a holly to fit a space -- it will mature into an ungainly plant that demands constant attention.

Timing

• Remove dead or damaged branches anytime, but save elective pruning for shape or renovation until winter and early spring. Remove leggy branches to use for holiday decorations in December, but delay major renovations for a month or two, depending on your climate. Pruning before bud break minimizes impact on flowering and berry production. In overgrown shrubs, remove two or three of the oldest canes each spring to reinvigorate the shrub. Shrubby Japanese (Ilex crenata) and Chinese (Ilex cornuta) hollies and others that sucker freely might also be pruned lightly in late spring or early summer.

Practice

• Follow good pruning practice with holly as with any other woody plant; keep pruning equipment clean and sharp and disinfect tools with rubbing alcohol or a 10 percent solution of household bleach and water after removing dead or diseased wood. Remove leggy sections down into the shrub, making room for the branching that will follow. Make each pruning cut no less than 1/2 inch and no more than 1 inch above a node -- the joints that mark growth on the branch or cane. This is especially important on American holly, which is an aggressive grower. Find nodes that point outward, so branches won’t grow into the shrub’s center but out from it, improving rather than limiting air circulation.

Considerations

• Planting wisely aids in reducing the need for pruning. Hollies might grow in part shade, but they produce more berries and grow more compactly in full sun. In shade, they might lean toward the light, necessitating additional shaping. The best policy is to choose a holly of appropriate size and to plant it where it can grow into its space with only an occasional snip of an overenthusiastic branch. Control suckering, either by cutting suckers 1 or 2 inches below the soil line or digging up outliers to start shrubs in a new location. Holly looks best as an informal shrub -- use hand pruners or loppers for tall hollies and save the sheers for formal gardens and topiary.