Choose holly for a great show of vibrant colour at Christmas time
THERE is a great show of holly berries this winter after two exceptional years of growth and good weather when the trees were flowering, in late spring and early summer, and the berries set well.
The berries lasted well until the cold weather came and birds turned their attention to the berries for food as the ground was frozen.
It often happens that a good show of berries can disappear in a matter of days, particularly in country areas. If this has happened, a good trick for future reference is to cut some branches when the birds start to feed and tuck these away in a cool, shaded place, covered by a sheet of polythene to avoid berries drying out.
Before the huge influx of evergreen trees of foreign provenance, there were only a small number of native trees that stayed green in winter, namely holly, yew, ivy, pine and juniper.
These trees and shrubs were kept in special regard because of near-magical properties that most trees couldn’t match. The tradition of bringing holly boughs and trails of ivy into the house stems from those beliefs — and admiration for a tree that could be so alive in the depths of winter.
Holly is an under-storey tree or bush in oak woodland, surviving well in the shade of tall trees though usually not fruiting much under such conditions.
Only when it is growing in the open in good sunlight are the berries produced in large numbers. Holly is often seen in exposed places on hillsides and in rocky areas. It is quite wind-resistant and makes a good, though prickly, hedge.
It is bird-sown, the seeds being excreted by the birds that feed on the berries, notably blackbirds and thrushes. The seeds can be carried some distance from the parent tree, or quite close by, as it is not unusual to see small holly saplings not far from mature trees. It is very common for bird-sown holly trees to popup in gardens. These seedlings usually germinate in the shade of a deciduous shrub, where holly’s natural ability to survive in shade gives it a competitive advantage.
These holly seedlings are usually very spiny when young, but lose much of their prickliness when they grow to a couple of metres, above grazing level. Holly has male or female trees, the male trees producing pollen that pollinates the flowers on the female, berrying, trees.
There is no way of knowing which a young tree will be until it flowers, which can be a decade or more. There are lots of selected garden hollies with berries, some having white or yellow variegated leaves.
Pick these out to choice when in berry. Holly grows anywhere that is well-drained.