if the damage is recent.. once the snow is gone.. and lightly tie the things back upright .... just loose rings to support them...

and pray that this spring.. when the juices get flowing.. they will re-attain their favored form ...

if not.. prune them shorter.. until the stem is strong enough to hold up what is left ...

i dont know if transplanting will decrease thinness ....

if they were field grown in full sun.. and you blasted them into dark shade.. i can see why you have thinning ...

but without a picture.. i cant go any further than wild speculation ... any chance????

ken

BTW... how long ago was the transplant??? how big ... how planted .. what aftercare ... and other info might really help us define the situation ...

ken

We've got some snowcover here, might be hard to tell but I'll see about a pic.

But yes, they are nursery grown (presumably) in full sun. They are listed as part-shade, so I put them on the north side of the house that gets very little direct sunlight.

It's been about 4 years, and they have grown about a foot or maybe two, but have all become thin. (I have 5 or so, maybe 6).

I'm redesigning my yard (you helped me with my question about smoke bush/tree, thanks) and can move them to more sun. They really aren't providing much of a screen, which was the intent.

But I don't want to do that if hollies won't fill in. I can clip the tops to encourage bottom growth, but if they are always gonna look disfigured, I'll keep them in the shade I guess.