My Winterberries are lime green, not dark green. Help!

Hi! I planted a row of wintergreen hollies along my walk last year. They seem to be doing well and have bloomed and are now setting fruit. But we are landscaping and picking color combo and I was counting on the winterberries to be dark green to contrast against the house and eventually the lawn when looking out the front windows.

Instead they are light green-spring green or lime green. If they stay this way I have to reorganize our entire color planting because right now they are just disappearing into the landscape-no color contrast. They are planted in an area that gets full sun for about 8 hours or more a day. What can I do to get them to darken up?

Also, how do I get them to fill out like the ones you see at the nursery or in pictures on line? Is there a product that stimulates leaf/branch production or do I need to use pruning only?

Please excuse the state of our yard and house. We are doing all this ourselves so we are in the "construction" stage. The house will be repainted either a light brown to match the roof, a darker green, or grey eventually with stone facing in the alcove.
Thanks

I think your lime color is temporary and due to soil conditions and the stress of getting established. If they were mine I'd let them alone at least a year maybe two. If by then they haven't become their proper green color I would fertilize and mulch with pine needles.
This link might be useful:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7866938_fertilizer-hollies.html

You can post more pictures of exactly what your site conditions actually are - the small version of the large area gives us context, but not detail.

As killda notes, knowing your soil's pH, fertility, and other existing conditions will really help with making recommendations. Knowing what condition the Winterberries were in when you planted them, what selection/clone they are, what time of year you planted them - these are important details to have.

It is normal for Winterberry to lose some foliar greenness as it uses nutrients to produce fruit. To overcome that, add nitrogen. How much N to add is dependent on a soil test to determine what you actually have. Level of pH is a determinant of how well this species will absorb nutrients, too. If an acid-loving (low pH) plant is placed in a high pH soil condition, it may not matter how much you fertilize it - the conditions are not appropriate for normal absorption of the nutrients that the plant needs.

Many of the nurserymen who selected the great Winterberry varieties that are grown today recommended a shot of nitrogen during the development of fruit. If these plants were container grown, and had no root mass reduction during transplanting, then there is no reason that you couldn't fertilize them any time you want. Granular fertilizer is the least expensive and easiest to apply. Liquid fertilizer is likely to produce effects sooner.

More information = potentially better recommendations.

Also, new growth is lime or spring green & will darken as it matures.

Thanks-I'm pretty sure it is the nitrogen.

What's your best recommendation for a nitrogen product?

Also, I know clover fixes nitrogen-and I like the way the plant looks-Is it possible to use clover for ground cover or is it just too invasive? I don't imagine that it would fix it at the level of the root of shrubs but what about perennials? Am looking for thoughts.

Manure them and mulch with pine needles. NO clover!
I may be wrong but I think the clover would compete with them for available nutrients.

This message was edited Jun 19, 2011 7:55 AM