I also have 2 holly bushes that were planted way too close to the house. It is hard to believe that people don't realize that these plants will grow up and don't need to be less than 2 feet from the house!

My h "trimmed" one earlier this year and cut it down to a small stub sticking out of the ground. Already it's baaaaaackk! We are having work done on the house and have to move our holly bushes. I'm hoping to dig them up(that should be a lot of fun-not!) and move them to a back corner of the yard.

I'm curious to see if any small portions of root left behind will grow, too. It sounds like it might!

I'll be following this thread with interest.....

It's not easy but then anything worthwhile never is. Dig around the bushes as well as you can. If they stick you, cut them off with chainsaw to get rid of the sticky leaves. Be sure to leave a good bit of stump and if possible, some side limbs near what is now the top of the stump. Loosen it as much as you can by digging. When loosened, tie a heavy rope around the stump and tie the rope to your car or truck. Pull on the stump. It may come right out. If not, leave tension on the rope and dig around the stump some more. You may need an axe or hatchet to cut exposed roots. Repeat until the stump comes lose.

This brings back memories! We too inherited two Hollies, one male and one female (the only one of course with berries) planted at opposite ends of house, and almost touching eaves. We tried "limbing up" to make more like small trees...beautiful grey trunks which I really liked, But every darn year we had to constantly rub off new sprouts all over those trunks. Finally we moved...not because of the hollies ~smile~ but I wasn't sorry to see the last of them. Good luck with your removal project. josh

There are many, many types of hollies. Some are grown for their fruit (berries) and others have no fruit at all. And, as Josh mentioned, of the fruiting varieties some have male/female plants and produce berries only on the female (determinate/non-determinate ????)

Whatever... from the sounds of your situation, getting rid of these will be a chore. I'm going with tsmith2579's suggestion to dig and pull them out. Get as many of the roots as you reasonably can. You will probably be finding shoots from the leftover roots for a couple years. I dug out a couple of established crepe myrtles six years ago, taking out a 3' dia. root ball, and I am still killing shoots as they come up through the gravel driveway. I suspect that the hollies will be just as persistent.

I can't imagine planting this type of holly (Nellie R. Stevens, etc.) less than 6' from a house.

Good luck,

David

To get rid of the hollies I planted I finally told hubby to bring the backhoe home and get to work. Nothing could keep the small and low like I thought they would be so WE DUG THEM UP.

Rae, have you decided what to plant in the holly's place. When we pulled up our hollies, I replaced them with oakleaf hydrangeas. They are very pretty now, bloom well and make the yard smell good when in bloom. Plant cast iron plants around them for winter color.

I want to plant some dwarf hydrangeas called Lemon Daddy. This side of the house faces east, so they would get morning sun.

How does this sound for digging out the hollies. Take a chain saw and cut them down to stumps (thus getting rid of all those painful leaves). Dig around and cut as many of the roots as I can with an ax or hand saw. Somehow attach a chain to the stump and try to pull it out with our ratty old s-10. My only question is will this hurt the truck? I am really dreading this project, but I am sick of these bushes.

Thanks for the advice,
Rae

P.S. I did actually see a few red berries really low inside one of the bushes a week or so ago, but it is still not worth the hassle of these bushes. Maybe they only make berries on old wood? Which means I would have to let them grow over the top of the house again before I saw significant berries. No, not worth it.

Rae, just remember you can't jerk them out of the ground. Put tension on the chain or rope and let the truck pull them out, not jerk them out. Jerking them out may hurt the truck. You can rock the truck back and forth to put a little more pull on the plants. If they don't come out, leave tension of the chain and dig some more until the roots begin to loosen some more. Something I forgot to mention is you can soak the ground around the roots after you digging around them. This will help the soil to let loose of them. You can also use an axe to cut the stubborn roots when you can see them. This will not be an "easy" process but it isn't too difficult. Just use common sense.

One thing that would help is to put a soaker hose on them for a few days. It makes it much easier to get those roots pulled out.
Michelle

What a nightmare!!! Moved in about 6 monthes ago and I have been dieing to work outside. The people we bought the house from just let everything they planted get out of controll. I would say my hollies must of been 30 yrs old. My hubby and I spent the weekend digging up our 3 holly bushes. Sat~ dug around the bushes, rained that night. Sun~ tied a strong cord to back of truck...it took all day; plus bent the bumper...ugh. I still have overgrown bushes in flower bed, they will just have to play a part in my new flowerbed. Now I have to go home and pull the roots that were left behind. Was wondering if I use Root Killer can I wait a week and then start planting?

I have about 6, 30 year old holly bushes that line my house next to the pool. (What were they thinking!?!) I can't get a back hoe inbetween the house and pool...and it's too far to put a chain to my car. I was wondering, if I drill holes in the stumps of the bushes, and put root kill stuff in there..would that do the trick?

Try cutting them down with a chain saw, then painting the stump with undiluted or very strong Roundup. If you can't get to the stumps with a tractor or truck to pull them up, maybe you can plant other things around them to hide them or even put flower pots on the stumps. We built an addition to our kitchen and the contractor had the tractor driver pull two up while he was digging the trench for the foundation.

We had several hollies in different locations around and too close to the house. They dropped berries on the terrace and in the gutters all year long, and the birds that ate the berries left on the tree dropped you-know-what on the terrace and furniture. We tried trimming them down for shrubs and trimming them up for trees, but finally gave up. I love hollies, but AWAY from the house!