Ilex Aquifolium, on its common name Holly is a fully hardy, evergreen shrub that can grow to form a tree of about 20 m high if left un-pruned. Through pruning holly can be maintained as a shrub and it can be used to form an impenetrable hedge. It is an ideal hedging plant for many reasons: it is slow growing - so it needs little maintenance with pruning, it is a good intruder deterrent because of its dense form and prickly leaves, its berries provide food for birds over the winter, it can be trimmed into a formal decorative hedge which provides an excellent windbreak and is also pollution resistant. It is the perfect choice for exposed sites or seaside gardens. Holly is also a very good choice to be included in a mixed hedge to provide winter color with its evergreen foliage and its red berries and also to offer protection for wildlife.
Holly has glossy, spiny, dark green or variegated leaves and wears berries that can be either red or orange depending on the cultivar. Some of the cultivars are solely male, others purely female. Only female holly bears berries, but only when there is a male holly nearby so the insects can pollinate the flowers. There are also few forms that don’t need insects to pollinate them in order to form berries.
Flowering occurs in late spring to early summer and are white, sweetly scented and barely noticeable. The berries that form after flowering are green and start to turn red in early to mid autumn and provide a very important source of food for birds during winter.
Holly likes full or partial shade and humus-rich, moist but not waterlogged soil. Plant them in your garden from mid autumn to early spring . Propagate can be done by layering branches or taking cuttings in autumn. Sowing seeds is also a possibility but they germinate very slow and the seedlings are slow-growing. Sow seed in autumn in a cold frame as soon as they ripe. It can take up to 18 months to germinate.
