IF
Its moment has arrived . . . but this beauty is a joy all year
YOU want to be green but need more oomph, BMW has souped up its electric i3 city car. The new all-electric zero-emissions i3s (pictured) has a high-performance 184 bhp electric motor linked to a high-voltage lithium ion battery. It goes from rest to 62 mph in 6.9 seconds, has a top speed of 99 mph, a claimed electric-only range of 174 miles, and costs £36,975 — about £3,000 more than the standard i3.
Range-extender versions of both cars, using a 38 bhp two-cylinder engine to generate more electric power, adds about 90 miles to the range and costs £37,220 for the i3 and £40,125 for the i3s. As well as sportier styling, the i3s has sports suspension that’s 10mm lower, 20 in light alloy wheels, a sport driving mode and sports suspension.
Its eco-friendly build uses parts made from recycled plastics and natural fibre.
Christmas is coming, so let’s raise a glass to holly. the brightest of evergreens, holly was used in midwinter celebrations long before the Christian era. and for gardeners, hollies are among the most useful and versatile plants.
With glossy foliage and sparkling berries, it’s easy to see how holly became a midwinter symbol of renewal. the boughs glow with life when other trees look stark and dead. there are other evergreens, of course, but ‘ holly bears the crown’.
hollies can be tall trees or compact bushes. they’re perfect for hedging, for specimen shrubs or even patio containers. many have colourful foliage, bright berries or both.
there are even deciduous hollies with berries on leafless branches. You can plant containerised holly trees when you like but if you want to move a young tree or buy one bare-rooted, it must be planted in winter.
Native holly, Ilex aquifolium, can grow 25 metres high. But in a garden you can control the size and shape of all hollies by pruning or clipping.
that makes them suitable for hedging, topiary, formal feature plants or loose-grown screens. it also makes them feasible for tiny gardens as well as large ones.
SMALL SPACES
tight-Clipped hedges and topiary shapes look solid. But really they’re hollow with a thin layer of foliage covering a network of bare twigs.
so for clipped hedging, choose hollies with small or mediumsized leaves. Ilex aquifolium is fine for that. Varieties such as Argentea
Marginata or non-berry bearing silver Queen adapt well to clipping and have cream-edged leaves. For teeny spaces, there are dwarf varieties and tinyleaved species. Japanese holly,
Ilex crenata, is a good alternative to box, which has become blight-prone.
it comes in plain green or coloured-leaf varieties such as golden gem and creammargined Variegata.
the best all-green variety for hedging is I. crenata green hedge. For larger or less formal screening — trimmed once a year — bigger-leaved varieties such as Hodginsii or berry-laden golden King are beautiful. they’re also lovely grown as natural trees or large shrubs. You can trim them annually or biennially in early spring, before new growth begins.
When choosing holly, it’s important to think about sex. Unlike most flowering plants, there are males and females. Furthermore, the females are not self-fertile.
so if you want berries, you’ll need at least one of each sex.
MISCHIEVOUS NAMES
Named varieties are clones, so they are either male or female. But don’t be fooled by the names: silver Queen is male, for example and golden King female.
if there are no males within bee range, you’ll need to plant a pollinator as well as a female tree to achieve berries. hedgehog holly, I. aquifolium Ferox, and variegated Ferox Argentea are prolific pollinators.
hollies are easy to grow, drought-resistant and largely disease-free. the prettiest and hardiest are varieties of Ilex aquifolium, I. x altaclerensis, and the ravishing ‘blue hollies’ Ilex x meserveae.
remember that hollies throw dense shade, so underplanting may be tricky. also, the prickles of fallen leaves hurt like heck when they puncture your fingers while weeding. that’s why it’s wise to underplant a holly with self-maintaining groundcover such as periwinkle.