Anybody know anything about yaupon holly? I have an acre of woods next to my house, and it is growing all over the place at the base of my pine trees. Looks ugly to me. I didn't know what it was and was told it was yaupon. Should I get rid of it or leave it?

It does not sound like y-holly. Y-holly is in two forms, dwarf and regular. dwarf is used for landscaping and grows in a natural round ball type, they make a good hedge. look around at some of your landscape buildings and look for a plant that looks like a beach ball (round and tight) The regular y-holly grows tall and can easly be trimmed to look like a tree with a ball at the top. These can be seen at your amusements parks to form "Micky Mouse" and other characters. the holly's don't usually sprout from their roots, so I don't think what you have is a Y-holly. What you might have is Nandina. If you do they are a pain in the butt to get rid of. There are several varities of nandina, such as "gulf coast", "domestica" dwarf and regular etc.... I hope that was helpful.

it has little bitty leaves like the holly....nadina (from what I've seen) has big leaves.

Yaupon is probably the most versatile evergreen holly for general use in Texas. It grows on almost any soil type and in sun or shade, although it is found naturally in low, moist, acid woods. It is drought tolerant but can also survive temporary poor drainage. In the wild it is a thicket-forming large shrub or small tree. In landscapes it can be single- or multi-trunked; it has attractive pale white to gray bark. The fruits that appear in late summer and fall are very ornamental, generally red but sometimes yellow to orange, and are eaten by many birds, especially after freeze-thaw cycles.

Plant Habit or Use: medium shrub
large shrub
small tree

Exposure: sun
partial sun

Flower Color: light green, inconspicuous

Blooming Period: spring

Fruit Characteristics: Glossy red, orange, or pale yellow berry-like drupe

Height: Typically 10 to 20 ft., but individuals can range from 4 to 30 ft.

Width: 8 to 12 ft.

Plant Character: evergreen

Heat Tolerance: very high
high

Water Requirements:

Soil Requirements: adaptable

USDA Hardiness Zone: 7
http://horticulture.tamu.edu:7998/ornamentals/FMPro?-db=ornamentals&-format=nativesdetail.html&-lay=layout%20%231&-sortfield=species&infosource=Texas%20native%20trees&common%20name=YAUPON%20HOLLY&-recid=33671&-find=

If you cut it down, it usually will come back from the roots.

[This message has been edited by Earthquake McGoon (edited 7/6/2004 11:44a).]

Well it sure isn't blooming right now whatever it is....maybe it's not that.

Right now the berries are green, so you have to look closely. Also the female yaupons have the berries and the male yaupons don't.

Does it look like this?



If so, where exactly do you live?

Those are red berries in the late fall and winter... Very few yaupon's i've seen are loaded like that.

Sure it's not a privit?

I live on Yaupon Valley Road. I have dwarf yaupon, houston yaupon, nadina and several varieties of native yaupon. I like the stuff. One of the few plants deer will not eat down to the dirt. Deer will eat anything.

http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Yaupon_holly/yaupholl.htm

Hecubus,

That's it exactly. Stuff it very hard to get to, and there was too much of it....maybe I just need to trim it down some.


[This message has been edited by BohunkAg (edited 7/6/2004 12:00p).]

It's hard to get rid of. I cut a bunch of the native stuff down last year that was too close to my house and it's already about three feet tall. I'll have to take more drastic measures the next time I get down there.

All nandina is ugly and worthless. Cut it down!

Tordon, baby.

Tordon will work, but it's a Restricted Use herbicide, which means you have to have a Private Applicator's License to purchase the stuff. The next best treatment is to cut it off at the ground, and IMMEDIATELY treat the exposed stump with a solution of 80% diesel and 20% Remedy. You don't have to spray the entire area, just use a paintbrush and paint the stump. Bye bye yaupon.


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Thanks HTown...that might be a good idea....I cut it down to the stump (wasn't very thick), and we'll see how fast it comes back.

You don't have to wait for it to grow back. If you can cut off some more of the stump to expose live wood, you can treat it with the diesel/Remedy mixture. Just be sure to do it right after you cut it.

Thanks HTown. I'll have to give that a try also.

I actually didn't know that tordon was restricted now. I haven't used it in several years. In fact, I probably have a gallon out in the shed.