winter damage ...

you said: , I dont see any new growth coming in.

==>>> there are green leaves on it???? am i missing something???

in my MI.. everything is two to 3 weeks late ..

patience.. and then.. anything that doesnt bud out and green in a few weeks.. presume dead.. and cut back to a live branch ... its up to you.. if you can wait for them to recover.. or rather abandon ship

you dont mention how they looked in fall ... but if they were fine.. then its winter damage ...there are no bugs in winter.. that i know of.. that could possible done anything... and if someone was trying to sell you bug juice.. then i would find a better person .. and they were selling in thier best interest.. not yours ...

give it time.. then prune ... gotta run.. no time to proof

ken

Hi Ken! Thank you for your response. In the fall this shrub has leaves on it. We did have a very rough winter and even had a frost a few weeks ago. I did have a feeling it may be due to the winter. I think I will wait a few more weeks. By june if there is no new growth than I may have to assume its dying :(

Thanks!

We had an extra-cold winter here. This is the sort of damage I've seen to established shrubs:

The Previous Owners had 20 huge Japanese privets (15' or so). This is the coldest zone they're rated for, and 14 of the 20 lost nearly all of their leaves in March. They're leafing out now -- slowly, it seems. It appears that a relatively small number of thin branches, here and there, were lost to the cold.

The euonymus and one of the camellias (both probably at least 12 years old) lost the leaves on their late-summer growth.

The dwarf Burford hollies -- which nearly succumbed in the 2007 Easter freeze, losing 40% and 70% of their branches -- were essentially untouched by this winter: damage maybe 1-2%.

Melli, lace bugs, viruses, and fungi are not on the list of problems associated with Japanese hollies. But they cannot tolerate the temperatures of this past winter. Broadleaf evergreens often have it harder than deciduous plants.

I agree with ken that it's too early to know the fate of your plant. If you don't see a recovery in a few weeks, it'll be time to think about replacement.

Thank you Rhizo! I agree. This winter was a rough one so I will give them some time. Id hate to dig em up too soon. That salesman definitely was out for himself. Ugh! Th anks again. I do hope they recover.

Let's see, the salesman was at one of the big box stores, right? :-)

haha...actually it was the guy from TruGreen who came to treat my grass. He saw the hollies and said, "it looks like you need some help with these shrubs. They look like they have lace bugs. See these brown spots here." i looked at him with raised eyebrows. Then of course he gave me his personal cell# and said he can treat it with some sort of pesticide. I was like, "ya, i'll pass on that, thank you. Then told me to check out home depot for sprays. Which is what led me here. I trust you all more than he. Man, anything to make a quick buck. grrr