Brown holly leaves

GunStreetGirl

Any ideas why the new growth might be turning brown? It was only planted about 9 months ago.
Should I just leave it be and hope for the best, or is there something I should be doing?

bcpathome

I’d say leave it but be sure it’s got enough water as you’ve put it up against a wall it’ll need more water. My next door neighbour has a holly by our adjoining fence and the wretched thing drops leaves in my garden all year round. They are really sharp when dried out and to be honest it’s a damn nuisance. 

coccinella

In defence of hollies, once established they look after themselves. When I prune mine I keep the bits and scatter them in a place where cats like to enter my garden. Remove the brown leaves I think it will recover. You may want to sprinke some blood and bone on the surface and keep moist but not waterlogged.

nick615

GunStreetGirl  Just a query, does your garden suffer from wind exposure?  We have a 20+ year old tree that is looking decidedly 'threadbare' this season for no apparent reason - except we're exposed to SW winds which are especially vicious, through there being no land between SW Ireland and the southern tip of S America.

coccinella

You are right nick615. Many shrubs including holly do suffer from cold or hot wind exposure and those brown leaves look scorched rather than diseased.