A lot of people call it Holly, it's not. I have a bunch of it in my front yard.
I have two questions.
When, like now, can I cut it back and how far back? Some of it's about 20"
tall, but I would like it to be lower.
And, when I cut off the new growth, not the growth that will come back from
cutting the plant back, but the growth that keeps coming to enable the plant to
spread in the area it covers, can I clip off this growth and hit it with
Brush-B-Gon or with this damage the plant?

On 16 Mar 2003 22:12:44 GMT, c (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

hit it with
Brush-B-Gon or with this damage the plant?

It can damage far more than "the plant"....


http://www.pesticide.org/triclopyr.pdf







"As crude a weapon as a cave man's club the chemical barrage has been hurled at the fabric of life."
Rachel Carson

In article ,
c (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

A lot of people call it Holly, it's not. I have a bunch of it in my
front yard.
I have two questions.
When, like now, can I cut it back and how far back? Some of it's about 20"
tall, but I would like it to be lower.
And, when I cut off the new growth, not the growth that will come back from
cutting the plant back, but the growth that keeps coming to enable the
plant to
spread in the area it covers, can I clip off this growth and hit it with
Brush-B-Gon or with this damage the plant?

It's a very hedgeable plant & will bounce back from whatever you do to it
pruning wise, though some of the naturally dwarf mahonias have a
relatively slow growth rate, so you should try to sheer in a way that
gives good appearance immediately, in case it doesn't bush back very fast.

Dig up suckers & unwanted side-branches, but don't poison them. If you
poison the sucker it will likely effect the parent plant, as they're
attached underground. Take out some of the dirt along with suckers & plant
in pots to give to chums.

On Mahonia aquifolium:
http://www.paghat.com/oregongrape.html
On Mahonia repens:
http://www.paghat.com/oregongrape2.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

When, like now, can I cut it back and how far back? Some of it's about 20"
tall, but I would like it to be lower.

The natural height of Mahonia aquifolia, Oregon grape holly, is about 4 feet.
If you want something under 20", plant a different species. You may kill it
trying to keep it cut back that low. There is a Mahonia repens native to the
eastern part of the country which is much lower growing, but not as attractive.
I don't think it is in the trade. You would have to go out in the woods &
collect it. If you want a ground cover, you can't go wrong with Pachysandra.

the growth that keeps coming to enable the plant to spread in the area it
covers, can I clip off this growth and hit it with Brush-B-Gon or will this
damage the plant?

Weed killer will spread and kill the plant. If you have to fight with it that
much, plant something else. Put your Oregon grape out in the yard somewhere
with more room. Enjoy the yellow flowers when the Rhododendrons bloom, & let
the birds enjoy the berries. Incidentally, Mahonia belongs to the barberry
family, but I have never heard of it being implicated in white pine blister
rust.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

In article ,
(Iris Cohen) wrote:

When, like now, can I cut it back and how far back? Some of it's about 20"
tall, but I would like it to be lower.

The natural height of Mahonia aquifolia, Oregon grape holly, is about 4 feet.
If you want something under 20", plant a different species. You may kill it
trying to keep it cut back that low. There is a Mahonia repens native to the
eastern part of the country which is much lower growing, but not as
attractive.
I don't think it is in the trade. You would have to go out in the woods &
collect it. If you want a ground cover, you can't go wrong with Pachysandra.

R. repens has an extensive range but I don't believe it reaches the east
coast. It's common all over Washington & Oregon, & it cross-pollinates
willynilly with M. aquifolia so that sometimes they cannot be told apart.
Some M. aqualifolia end up being dwarfish, some M. repens end up very
upright rather than creeping. Both are common nursery offerings here in
the Northwest, but they sometimes erupt in the garden on their own since
they're native. I just today visited an alcapa farm about ten miles away,
& there were areas of the farm dense with mahonia, probably M. repens
since none were more than a couple feet tall. I'm of the opinion M.
aquifolia can be kept sheered short & will still do fine & look good, not
that I've attempted to limit mine, so I could be wrong on that, it's just
that it sometimes seems tough as a weed that nothing can harm. And M.
aquifolia can be MUCH taller than four feet. They'll grow in fairly dry &
nasty locations that would kill pachysandra.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

yes, paghat, mahonia is native here on the east side of the cascades
whereever rainfall is more than 15 inches a year, although it favors pine
forest locations rather than open meadows or fields. I know a number of
people here who use it as hedge material, although they keep it at about 4
feet tall - and yes, it commonly reaches at least 6 feet here - sometimes
under fairly harsh conditions. I have discovered when transplanting it that
it will resprout from small bits of root left behind.........I can't tell
the repens variety at a glance - since foliage fruit and flowers are
identical to the larger variety. It's a rather nasty scratchy hedge, because
the points on the leaves are sharp, and the leaves are hard, not soft and
bendy. I'm not crazy about its winter reddish brown color, but it's
spectacular in late spring when the new foliage and yellow flowers emerge. A
very good choice though for any xeriscaping yard in this area.........
"paghat" wrote R. repens has an extensive
range but I don't believe it reaches the east
coast. It's common all over Washington & Oregon, & it cross-pollinates
willynilly with M. aquifolia so that sometimes they cannot be told apart.
Some M. aqualifolia end up being dwarfish, some M. repens end up very
upright rather than creeping. Both are common nursery offerings here in
the Northwest, but they sometimes erupt in the garden on their own since
they're native. I just today visited an alcapa farm about ten miles away,
& there were areas of the farm dense with mahonia, probably M. repens
since none were more than a couple feet tall. I'm of the opinion M.
aquifolia can be kept sheered short & will still do fine & look good, not
that I've attempted to limit mine, so I could be wrong on that, it's just
that it sometimes seems tough as a weed that nothing can harm. And M.
aquifolia can be MUCH taller than four feet. They'll grow in fairly dry &
nasty locations that would kill pachysandra.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/