What's Wrong with the Holly?

Laurel, DE(Zone 7a)

Had this thread in the wrong forum so hoping someone in the tree expert area will have some idea of the problem with these holly. Tasha planted several, some are looking great, but getting brown spots and some look almost completely dead.
They were just planted 2 weeks ago, they received them as replacements for ones the county took down. She has contacted the company that replaced them, but gotten no response yet. They didn't cost her anything as they are replacing ones those phone/electric workers removed, but she wants to see them survive as they relish the privacy from the far fields.
Thanks,
Candee
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/516600/

That's an Ilex. If I had to take a gamble, I'd go for Phymatotrichum omnivorum. But then I also see some powdery mildew on some leaves. Unfortunately, it looks as if there's a secondary or tertiary bacterial infection going on with those trees also. My thoughts are that those Hollies were not protected properly over the winter and they were already stressed. Hollies are notorious for scorching over winter from temperature fluctuations. Trees, when transplanted, are very susceptible to all kinds of ickies and nasties. If these were my trees, I'd probably not even bother hiring an arborist to come out to render a diagnosis. It is looking to me as if their root systems have failed and I have this little voice that says cut your losses now and let them go. Maybe you could contact the power company and share the photos and ask them to contact the landscaper to replace the "replacement" trees. I'm really really very sorry, those trees look like goners to me. I feel so bad for you.

editing to add that I am NOT an expert, not even close. When I see something like that I call in an expert. Arborists around here make house calls for $75 and to me it's well worth it to hire one as opposed to spending twice that on the wrong chemicals to treat a tree based on shot in the dark guesses to have it die on me anyway. Aside from that, the man I have who has come out here a few times has been brutally honest with me and told me to throw in the towel and save my money a few times. I respect that. He always takes the time to educate me and so I have never had to call him for the same thing twice. He also takes a look around when he's here and he's pointed out some potential problems to me that I was able to nip in the bud before they got out of control. Arborists can be worth their weigh in gold sometimes.

This message was edited Jun 2, 2005 11:08 PM

Laurel, DE(Zone 7a)

Thanks so much for your advise. I just copied and pasted your response in an email to her. She has email pics to the middleman that works with the replacement outfit, just hasn't gotten a response.
Thanks again for helping with this problem.

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