Freebie Holly Bushes

lpalta · #1 09-05-2008, 08:48 PM

A truck pulled in our yard today; the driver was working on a site nearby and had lots of clean fill to get rid of. And four bushes! I am attaching the twig from one of the holly bushes--hoping someone can help identify. Also, that they will survive the transplant.

herasday · #2 09-06-2008, 01:37 AM

Hi, Lucy. I can't help to identify which kind of holly that is (they all look the same to me, pretty much) . Maybe someone else can.

I just wanted to say Hi!

Bird Lover · #3 09-06-2008, 11:04 AM

Hi Lucy! I don't have any idea either. I hope they survive transplanting for you. Do they have a good root system still attached?

petal*pusher · #4 09-06-2008, 05:01 PM

Hmmmm....the fact that you got these "gifts" from someone working nearby should mean they are perfect for your zone!

Kind of strange they just stopped by to give you all these goodies.....soil and plants. Were they working on private property or commercial property? Holly bushes are beautiful all year 'round...you need both male and female to bear those beautiful red berries.

I buy holly by the pound from the West coast each year at Christmas to put into arrangements (it's $$$ !!)....the berries that fall into the bottom of the box I take home and put out for my cardinals!...........p

greenasagourd · #5 09-06-2008, 06:08 PM

I transplanted an American Holly once from a friend's off shoot & it did fine -- grew quickly. I've had various kinds of hollies in my last 3 yards. I love it when they are loaded with berries like mine are this year. The bees were busy on them this spring. I have Nellie Stevens & Pencil Hollies in this yard. The only thing I don't like about them is pruning. The Pencils are no problem, but the Nellies bite!

Enjoy your new hollies!

Oh yeah, they seem to like extra iron. If they start turning yellow on you, add iron.

Daylilydayzed · #6 09-06-2008, 06:31 PM

That looks like the holly tree that was in my grandparents yard years ago. Sad to say that after the house was sold when my grandmother went to a nursing home and the new owners cut the tree down.

lpalta · #7 09-07-2008, 01:32 AM

Been way too long since I have been on. Between fixing the old house and doing some cross-stitching and file sharing the days seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Pat, this summer we had a new water line put in and the guy that did the work said to give him a call when we started our garage addition--he would come out and mark where the water line was. We did, and it so happens he was putting in a line just a few houses down. He stopped by and marked where our line was and asked if we could use some extra fill left over from the job. We had a hugh pile out by our barn from where we dug out for the garage. I told him we can always use more, that as a kid I never knew people actually paid for dirt. A contractor putting new gutter's in for someone on a nearby track must have noticed our dirt piles growing and stopped to ask if we could use more. He was from a nearby town and didn't know anyone in the area. I think we will leave one pile by the barn as bait (lol). When I get a new memory card I will post pictures of my new bushes--should they still be with us. Lucy

Bird Lover · #8 09-09-2008, 10:17 AM

Lucy, you're lucky that the contractors just happened to see your pile of clean fill & asked if you wanted more. I see classified ads all the time, offering clean fill for sale. That's a good idea you have, to leave some of it as "bait", lol.
I'll bet it's cooling off a bit up there where you are by now. Except for last Saturday, when the rain came through, we've had absolutely perfect weather for the past few weeks. I'm finally catching up with weeding all my garden beds. It's a chore I avoid when it's so hot out.

NEIndiana · #9 09-09-2008, 05:37 PM

Pat, I agree with the holding off the weeding until it cools a bit. Unfortunately, I am out on the west coast now enjoying warm sunny days with a light breeze and not getting my weeding done at home! However, mom is making sure that I don't forget how to do the weeding properly and have all her flower beds cleared out and cleaned up.
As for clean fill...we have a place we can go to locally back home that offers free mulch, compost, etc. Each county has a yard refuse place and they grind up the limbs for mulch, compost, and if you want a truck load, you pull up, they'll load it with a bobcat scooper and off you go. The county does not charge for this and some of the compost is just black and so rich. We are fortunate to have this program and I also have my own private free source of mulch. One of our friends has a tree cutting service and when they remove a lot of the limbs that can be ground up, as long as it's clean with no leaves, they'll dump it at my place for me to use in all my flowerbeds. Convenient and cheap! LOL