BERRY CHRıSTMAS

Holly is not just a symbol of the season and a tasty treat for cattle – it also makes a superb garden tree, says Monty Don

There is Skimmia japonica, pyracantha, cotoneasters, holly and yew... and that, ladies and gentlemen, is about it for evergreen plants that carry red berries at Christmas time. Skimmia japonica was first introduced into this country from its native China in 1849, pyracantha made its first appearance here, also from China, in 1911 and the earliest evergreen cotoneaster to be grown here was C. integrifolius in 1824.

So from the last ice age to the 1820s the only evergreen trees or shrubs in the British Isles with bright red berries that you could see in midwinter were hollies or yews. Yew berries can be very plentiful – my Irish yews in the Cottage Garden are covered with them – but they do not stand out against the matt green foliage, and in any event the birds soon eat them. Holly berries, on the other hand, blaze against the shiny, spiny leaves of the tree. This means that for thousands of years they have burnt themselves into our minds as the archetype of the living, thriving plant in the middle of bleak midwinter. A healthy holly, covered in berries, is the ultimate plant symbol of survival and hope.

There are more than 400 species of holly and easily as many again of cultivars and hybrids. I have planted a number of hollies in my own garden, ranging from the standard Ilex aquifolium to various yellow and ivorytinged cultivars like ‘Silver King’ and ‘Golden Queen’. They grow well in our moist, heavy soil. The hollies that have their variegation in the centre of the leaf, fringed with green, will at some point begin to grow leaves that are a solid green too – and these should simply be pruned off. If left, their greater ability to photosynthesise will mean that they grow much more vigorously than the variegated leaves and will soon shade them out.

To get berries on holly you must have a female tree as well as a male to fertilise the flowers (although they don’t need to be of the same variety). This task is made difficult by the names given to various of the most popular varieties. So ‘Golden Queen’ is male and ‘Golden King’ is female. ‘Silver Queen’ is male but is also known as ‘Silver King’ and does not produce berries. Confused? So am I.

Holly makes a superb garden tree. It can be clipped into topiary (although you will sacrifice most of the berries) or a dense hedge, it will grow in almost any soil and provides the driest shade of almost any plant – which is often jolly useful for the gardener in the rain! This might lead you to think that holly likes dry shade to grow in, but it actually prefers moist, well-drained soil and looks best in full sunshine – especially variegated varieties. Too much shade makes it a bit stringy, so if you grow holly for topiary it will be easier to hold its shape in a sunny spot.

Despite their prickliness, holly leaves are a popular and highly nutritious food for sheep, cattle and deer. In my neck of the woods farmers used to have areas of holly trees that they harvested for the leaves as winter fodder, and when the snow lay on the ground the animals would eat it greedily.

Like yew or box, holly regenerates from bare wood, so if you have an overgrown, sparse holly hedge or shrub do not be frightened of cutting it right back to the bone (the best time to do this is March or April). It will resprout vigorous, compact growth that can subsequently be clipped to remain tight and dense. ■