Question

China Girl Holly   We have had to relocate eight China Girl and Ink Berry Holly bushes from landscaped bed to end of property behind our house, which slopes (gently) toward a detention basin. Have been watering them every other evening about 10 minutes each. Two are located in what seems to be a drier area than the others. These two have turned light green on top perimeter of bush and have dropped leaves from that area. Leaves also look somewhat curled. The inner area of bushes still show glossy dark green leaves. Not sure if we are seeing results of over-watering, under-watering, or transplantation shock. We live in southeastern PA - rainfall has not been appreciable - typical lately here are short, heavy downpours that produce run-off. Is our problem temporary or will we lose these two bushes? Thanks in advance for your response.

Answer
Dear Elaine, I think you are mostly going through some transplant shock, but be on the lookout for scale (small bumps on the trunk) or other insects.  Hollies are prone to a lot of different insects and diseases, but those are much more frequent in the South where I am than in Pennsylvania where hollies are much more common and in a better climate.  Plants that have been under stress are more likely to develop pests.  Looking at your picture, I don't think it looks that bad, it just looks a bit spindly and light green.  I would give them a good dose of fertilizer, but do it at half strength the first time and then wait a few weeks and give it another half strength feeding.  On the watering, since they are newly transplanted they will need more water, but you probably could go to every three days and you may not have to water them as long.  Generally, you don't want the ground to be mushy when you finish watering, and you want the ground to dry out in between waterings.  I would try to water less frequently, and then the rest is just a wait and see.  You will have to wait a month or two to be sure that a transplant is going to survive, longer with big trees.  I apologize that this answer is somewhat vague, but I see nothing in the picture that suggests anything more than transplant stress.  Please write back if you still have problems in a few more weeks.  Good luck, Melissa