Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Trouble with Hollies, 5 by Sequoiadendron4

Sequoiadendron4 wrote:
Hello,

I do alright in the garden and many say I have a green thumb but I have the darnedest time keeping Holly bushes healthy. The following pictures are of Blue Prince and Blue Princess Hollies that have ailments of some sort. I have treated all of the Holly bushes on our property with Bonide Tree and Shrub insecticidal systemic in the spring. A manager from a local nursery I used to work at stopped by in the beginning of summer to check out a tree we're having problems with and he noticed that three of our Hollies had what he called spider mite problems. So I got a spider mite spray(Spectricide), applied it twice, and it doesn't seem to have worked. Now I noticed that more of the Hollies have the same symptoms and in the last picture a few of them are getting these black dots on the leaves. I picked a few of the black dots off and they would smush between my fingernails just like a scale. But these are on the leaves so I didn't know if they were a leaf scale. But if that's the case then I'm not sure why the drench isn't killing them...

So basically I want to know if there is an insecticidal systemic that will kill spider mites if that is in fact what you all think is going on. Secondly, what pest is on the last picture and what can I do about it.

Geez...everyone else seems to have such an easy time with Hollies and they don't even try! Grr....