Holly bushes

[scluff]

treatment for mold or soot on holly

[logman]

I will assume the mould or soot you refer to is a deposit on the leaves and not the bark.

"Sooty mould", is the result of sap sucking aphids that exude a substance known as honey dew, which coats the leaves and is later colonised by the fungus known as sooty mould. The mould itself is fairly harmless, appart from filtering out some of the light and looking unsightly. To rid this you need to control the aphids that produce the honey dew. Various brand named products, in the form of chemical and none chemical sprays can be purchased from garden centres.

Its also posible the holly bush/s could be coated in traffic grime if you are near a busy main road, in which case a regular high pressure hose down should do the trick,and this method is also a cheap alternative to getting rid of aphids, when they are active in the summer..

[scluff]

logman

Thanks for the info. I live in the country so don't think traffic has anything to do with it. When I prune the holly in the spring, the inside leaves are black with what appears to be mold and some of the leaves are yellowed or dead. It puts out new growth after pruning which covers up the unsightly inside. I plan to do more severe pruning this spring and would like to get rid of the mess

[logman]

Hi scluff, Thanks for getting back.

Another thought has occurred to me, if it is sooty mould, it may have come from surrounding or overhanging trees that have been infested with aphids, some likely suspects are sycamore and lime trees and i've often seen a blue/black stain under oaks at times too..

[scluff]

logman

Only a maple& 2 cedars. There is a large magnolia and Nellie Stevens holly tree nearby, but they seem fine. The holly bush in question is very tight, so maybe with heavy pruning and an early season spray will take care of my problem. Thanks for your input.

Shirley

[logman]

Hi sluff, Just a word of caution, i dont think it would be a very good idea to prune your holly as early as spring, as thats when the sap is rising, this may cause the cut branches to "bleed" which can weaken the plant and leave it open to infection and possibly ths sooty mould you have been getting.

I would wait until we are at least well into the summer before any heavy prunning on your holly..

[scluff]

How about now before out cold winter sets in? We have had a really warm January here in Maryland and spring will be very late arriving.

Scluff