AUTOPSY!!!!!!!!!

It's not a very big Foster holly; was it in a container or B&B? Pop it out and use water pressure to blast all the soil off the roots and see what you originally bought. Take pictures at each step along the way, so that you've got a record for future reference (or for posting here so that others may learn).

You may find out that you did nothing wrong; your patient may have had a terminal problem to start with.

I never wait until my newly planted shrubs (under two years) start to show signs of stress and droop to water them. If it hasn't rained, I water, even if they look fine.

I'm also curious what a post-mortem will turn up.

Most hollies need either "average" water or more than average. A Foster Holly should just need average water, but that still means you shouldn't let it dry out in its first year. In that spot you would probably need to water deeply every week. Once established for a few years I think it will be fine in that spot, it will grow into a tree itself if you let it.

FYI...Last weekend I dug up the dead Fosters Holly and planted another in the same location. I snapped a few pictures, but the pictures were corrupted (I guess my digital camera does not like it when you pull the memory card while the camera is turned on). In general the roots of the dead tree looked decent. The container shape was still evident, but there were roots that extended out from the original root ball and the soil on the root ball was loose.

If there was one planting error, it seems that I did not dig a very wide planting hole. I think I tried to keep the hole size small to minimize disturbance to the roots of the surrounding trees. When I planted the replacement I made sure to loosen up a 3' wide planting hole. I top dressed with some compost and mulch. I will be sure to keep this one watered on a regular basis.

- Brent

I don't know about your zone, but around here I worry about my hollies surviving the winter and getting enough moisture. I bought 3 large B&B's (Blue Princess) this spring for a very similar spot as yours -- maybe worse as far as big tree root competition. I am crossing my fingers that they can make the winter and the dryness. I would never attempt planting them in the fall here. My only hope is that I got them in early enough in the season (and am keeping them very well watered and mulched) that their roots will deal.

Make sure yours gets plenty of water going into the winter. Even though yours seemed to make it through last winter, it still may have been stressed enough throughout the season as a result of winter dryness.

I had another holly, Dragon Lady, that suffered after last winter a lot. I kept trimming back winter kill and a few weeks later there was more.. over and over all season long. It was very strange. It finally settled down, but it is half the size it was last year.

I plan to give the Blue Princesses plenty of water up until the ground freezes and plenty of mulch after that.

So...not only did you kill your holly but you corrupted the photo evidence? The Ilex CSI will track you down! Better not have left any DNA evidence about....

Good for you on digging the ample planting hole. Only further advice I'd offer is to make the moisture additions easier on yourself. Invest in a length of drip hose (the stuff made of recycled rubber, round, that looks like it's sweating when you've got the water turned on) to lay under the mulch in your planting bed. Much more efficient way to water, and you can be doing other things like sipping adult beverages or planting more specimens. Your hosta in the pic would enjoy it as well.

Good luck with the new holly.

I too live in NoVA and may have killed my ornamental holly. I added Holly Tone in June or early July, which may have been the wrong time of year to do it. But I thought it was safe because it was organic. Or it could have been lack of water, because I was recently gone for 10 days when there no rain. I had watered fairly regularly before I left but it may have only gotten watered once during my absence. Now the bottom half has brown, drooping, then dropping leaves. Will it come back and will it fill in again? What can I do to save it, or is it too late?