cant do much w/o a picture..

what was the coldest cold snap you had ... its weird.. but it could effect only one ... sometimes the mildest winters cause more harm.. due to the wild temp fluctuations ...

otherwise.. who knows what could have affected that one plant .. fertilizer??? lawn care?? dog... back to needing a picture

ken

Get some chelated iron fertilizer like Hollytone and use a little. I would use a teaspoonful in two gallons of water,as completely dissolved as possible, and wait two weeks. Better too little than too much Later in Spring, here, all my holly start to lose some leaves, that have turned yellow. I think those leaves are about two years old. But anything alkaline, like fresh concrete of dog urine, would be detrimental to holly.
I am a rank amateur but have been dealing with holly for a lifetime.

mark replied to my email.. instead of here ... i dont see why i cant share it ...

he said:
Thank you. It's been in the ground a long time (6-8 years) so I don't think
it's rootbound. I showed a branch to my garden shop this morning and their
guess was that it was the winter cold snaps (we had lots of days going from
70 to 25). I'm not sure how else to diagnose it. I'll do a little pruning to
get rid of yellow leaves and air out the crowded center. Once a month, the
gardens here have a master gardener clinic so I'll go there next time it's
open. Thanks for your advice.

===>>> mark.. i would not go pruning.. until i see where buds break .. if its just cosmetic to the leaves.. then i dont see why you need to go lopping off branch pieces ...

the leaves will fall off themselves, if you have patience ... but why mangle the plant otherwise ...

often a frost will only affect the leaves.. but not the buds with this years growth... that usually happens during a freeze ... as compared to a frost ...

as i tell peeps.. you can always cut it off later.. but you cant staple/tape them back on ....

thinning the interior should not be related to this issue ... if you want/need to do it otherwise.. fine.. but it isnt part of this ...

you are welcome ....

ken

ps: it is already stressed due to the leaf loss ... severe pruning of the good leaves.. due to interior thinning.. may simply be removing more leaves.. that it needs to get over the stress created by the frost ...

Why would frost pick on one plant in a row?

Lack of good drainage could be the problem if it's a pale, washed out, yellow. If it has lost a lot of leaves this could be the problem.

The new growth on some varieties is a bright yellow. New growth comes on in late Spring, however.

I grow a lot of Illex crenata, 'Convexa'.
Mike

Often seen with yellow leaves here, could just be a nitrogen deficiency in my area but I have also seen this attributed to inadequate magnesium.

I would agree, most likely a nitrogen/magnesium or iron deficiency, try hoeing in some adding Epsom salts around the base or dilute and apply to leaves. Worth noting too that Ilex crenata prefer sandy soils to clay ones.

Is the OP still with us? Prolly not. If he is talking about Helleri Holly he may have an issue like this. 'Golden Helleri' was selected for its beautiful golden new growth which eventually greens up.

If he is talking about a holly other than Helleri, I got nothing.