Hi folks-

About four years ago I planted what I was hoping would grow into a screen of needlepoint hollies along a fence in a part-shade area of my backyard. For the first two years the hollies seemed to really thrive, lots of new growth each spring, berries, etc. Almost topping the fence! Then last year I noticed that they seemed to be starting to fall over-- like they were wilting, just flopping over, although the leaves don't appear wilty, the plant looks like it needs staking or something. I though maybe they were getting top heavy, so I pruned them a bit last year. This year, same thing-- early in spring, look pretty good, now flopping all over. I've never thought of hollies as needing propping, right? Something must be wrong. Now, that I've described the problem I'll admit something else ( I didn't want to bias you!)-- several of them (but not all) are within the dripline of a black walnut tree (I didn't realize that I had a killer tree in the neighbor's yard before I planted!!). Could this be the problem? I thought a black walnut would just kill them or stunt them if it was going to-- could this flopping be a slow death due to juglone? Should I just remove them and go back to the drawing board, or could they be suffering from something else. The line of 7 hollies starts about 6 feet from the BW and the farthest one is about 30 feet from the BW. The one nearest the BW is definitely not doing well -- thin and spindly looking. However, the rest look pretty healthy, except for the flopping. Thoughts? Advice? So sad...