Ornamental Holly Plants to Grow in Your Garden
Hollies' Glossy Leaves and Bright Berries Give Year Round Interest
Feb 2, 2009
Wild holly grows freely in British hedgerows and woodland as a bush or small tree, but over the centuries nurserymen and plant hunters have come up with all sorts of variations on the bright red berries and prickly, glossy green leaves of the native variety, Ilex aquifolium. Cultivated hollies come in all sizes, some small trees are suitable for the smallest garden or patio pots. They'll give winter colour in your garden, - and Christmas berries for the house.
Holly flowers are small and unobtrusive, normally white or yellow. Not all varieties of holly carry berries. Some produce only male flowers and are grown either as pollinators for female varieties or sometimes for their attractive foliage.
To get the berries which are holly’s crowning attraction, you’ll normally therefore need to plant both male and female, berrying, varieties in your garden, although a companion tree in a neighbour’s garden will do the trick too.
There are also a few self fertile hollies and if space is limited, you can plant one of these on its own. But even they will produce a better crop of berries if there’s a male tree nearby.
Any good nursery or garden centre will advise you on pollination. It's worth trying a special nursery like Welsh Holly if you have difficulty finding a variety, but any good nursery or garden centre should offer most of the popular varieties, including;
Self Fertile Hollies
- Ilex aquifolium JC Van Tol. 12-15 ft. Red berries and glossy green leaves. The variety Golden Van Tol has a gold edge on the leaf, and young shoots and leaves are an attractive purple.
- Ilex aquifolium Pyramidalis. 12-15 ft. Red berries and glossy green almost spineless leaves and an attractive symmetrical habit.
Female Varieties
- Ilex aquifolium Common Holly. 25 ft. Has male and female varieties. Good hedging but rarely grown in ornamental gardens.
- Ilex altaclarensis Golden King. 12-15 feet. No. This isn’t a mistake. It really is a red berried female variety with variegated gold/green leaves.
- Ilex aquifolium Handsworth New Silver. 20feet. Bright red berries, gold/ white edged leaves and pinkish young shoots
- Ilex meserveae Blue Princess. 8 feet. Abundant red berries and glossy blue/green leaves with soft spines.
- Ilex Opaca. 10 feet. Yellow berries and bright green leaves.
Male Varieties
- Ilex aquifolium Ferox. 8 feet. Ferocious spines on the leaf surface as well as the edges and a very good pollinator.
- Ilex aquifolium Ferox Argentea is slightly smaller and has attractive gold edged leaves.
- Ilex aquifolium Silver Queen. 12-15 feet. Another paradoxically named variety with silver/green variegated leaves.
Cultivation
Plant Holly in any garden soil in sun or light shade as a specimen plant or to give a sturdy impenetrable hedge. A good small plant (up to 60-90cm) is normally a better buy than a larger one as the more mature plants don’t like moving.
Hollies are completely hardy and will thrive even in exposed positions and all but very heavy shade. Variegated plants, however, will show better leaf colour in sunny positions.
For female varieties, plant within about 30 or 40 metres of a male or self fertile specimen. Here are a few to choose from.
Other Garden Trees and Shrubs
For additional colour in your garden, why not try ornamental cherries for their glorious blossom. or acers or maples for their colourful autumn foliage. Rhododendrons, like hollies, have glossy evergreen foliage, with the bonus of sumptuous displays of flower in spring.
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