Why planting holly is the right thing for you and local wildlife

Peter Dowdall resolves to plant more hollies this year in a bid to protect the species and help local wildlife. 

THE snowdrops and early daffodils are poking their heads through the soil as a new season beckons. While January can be depressing, with high winds, rain, and dark, dreary days, it’s also a month that makes me optimistic for what lies ahead.

Those bulbs that were planted thanklessly back in autumn are only now thinking about breaking the soil surface, and will soon provide a beautiful spring display — the winter months long forgotten.

Holly, synonymous with Christmas as a decoration, Unfortunately, at least two varieties have become extinct and several others are at risk. So, my resolution for this year is to plant holly in its many different forms, whenever and wherever possible.

I would urge all gardeners to find space for even one specimen in the garden. If you are thinking of a new hedge, or perhaps an old one has become worn out with age or through disease, then look seriously at holly as a replacement.

I can’t think of another genus that offers such diversity in species. Think not just of the straight, green holly, Ilex aquifolium — though it is a beautiful addition to the garden — with its dark-green waxy leaves, and red berries, it’s instantly recognisable during the winter. But look, too, at the many other varieties available.

Ilex crenata, similar in appearance to Buxus sempervirens (Box hedging), has enjoyed an upsurge in popularity in the last number of years, due in no small part to the prevalence of box blight, which has decimated many established box hedges throughout the UK and Ireland.

I first planted Ilex aquifolium in a mixed hedge with Fagus sylvatica (green beech), on my work experience year from college, and it is a plant combination that I instantly fell in love with, and have that same mixture planted outside my own home now. The dark green of the holly works so well with the copper brown of the beech, during the winter, that it creates a feeling of warmth in anyone who looks at it.

Most holly plants are dioecious, meaning that both male and female plants are needed to pollinate the female flowers to develop into berries. Ilex ‘JC Van Tol’ is a self-fertile variety, which produces berries freely on one plant. However, as with all self-fertile plants, I would recommend planting more than one, for a better display of berries.

‘Golden van Tol’ is a bright, variegated form. Also self-fertile, it has the added feature of leaves with a cream margin, which bring a lovely colour contrast to the garden. The van Tols are not spiny and thorny, as you would expect from a holly tree. Rather, the leaves are glossy and smooth.

I have tried Ilex verticillata several times without success. I’m not certain why they haven’t liked my garden, as I have tried them in several different locations: in damp and wet soil with full sun, which is their preferred position, and also in more well-drained positions, but to no avail.

The plants I have tried have all been Dutch imports, as I have been unable to find Irish-grown plants, and this may be the problem. It’s a deciduous species and, in full berry with no leaves during the winter, it is a sight to behold. This peculiar lack of winter foliage, and its difficulty, so far, makes me more determined to persevere with verticillata.

‘Golden King’ and ‘Silver Queen’ are both lovely, bright hollys with variegated foliage, female and male respectively. Ilex aquifolilum, the common green holly, on the other hand, has male and female plants in the same species. The way to tell the difference is by the flower shape.

The male flowers have more prominent stamens and the female have a swollen base, which will develop to become the berry. One male will be enough to satisfy up to ten females, which is socially acceptable in the plant world.

Ilex ‘Nellie Stevens’ is another classic looking holly, in that it has the glossy, spiny leaves and it is a good variety to produce berries. It is slightly different botanically and biologically, producing berries asexually, so it is a fine choice for a garden where there is only room for one specimen.

Finally, do be aware that while the berries are aesthetically attractive and important for wildlife, they are also toxic to we humans. One or two berries will lead to vomiting and diarrhoea, but a large amount of the bright berries, twenty or more, could be fatal.