Holly, Ilex Holly plants have attractive berries and shiny, evergreen leaves offering year-round colour and interest. The berries are ideal for attracting wildlife and sprigs of holly have always been a popular Christmas decoration.

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Recommended varieties Growing tips

Problem solver Where to see them

Holly can be grown as a bushy shrub or small specimen tree. Its dense, slow-growing habit makes it suitable for topiary training and it can also be used as a windbreak and burglar deterrent.

The colour of the berries varies from red to scarlet, black and yellow, but unless you have a self-pollinating variety, you need to plant both male and female plants. Ask for details of the plant's sex before purchasing at a garden centre.

Cultivar names aren't always a good guide to the plant's sex. Ilex aquifolium 'Silver Queen' is a male plant, for example, while Ilex altaclerensis 'Golden King' is female.

The following plants require a pollinator:

• Ilex aquifolium: common holly.
• Ilex aquifolium 'Handsworth New Silver': female.
• Ilex aquifolium 'Silver Queen': male.
• Ilex altaclerensis: vigorous and frost-hardy species of evergreen plants. Good resistance to pollution.
• Ilex x altaclerensis 'Golden King': female.
• Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox': quirky variety with spines on the leaf surface.
• Ilex x altaclerensis 'Wilsonii': vigorous female tree producing scarlet berries, with a dense upright growth habit that will reach 8m (25ft). The young branches are greenish-purple, producing glossy, spiney leaves.
• Ilex opaca.

Self-fertile species include:

• Ilex aquifolium 'JC van Tol': grows to about 4.6m (15ft), with red berries and less prickly leaves than some varieties. The variety 'Golden van Tol' has attractive golden-edged leaves and the young branches are purple.
• Ilex aquifolium 'Pyramdalis'.

Buy plants when they're young, as mature plants don't like being transplanted.

Plant in late winter or early spring. Holly can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, but prefers well-drained soil. It can grow in the sun or shade, but variegated foliage varieties are better in the sun or semi-shade.

Holly plants are low maintenence. Prune in late spring to maintain shape. Trees respond well to hard pruning or even pollarding.

Prune out any green-leaved branches on variegated species.

If the plant produces few or no berries, it's probably because the plant is male. Or it could be a female plant that hasn't been pollinated by a male plant.

A poor show of berries could also be due to cold winds and wet periods during flowering, which deter insects from pollinating the plants.

Occasionally, hollies may suffer from root rot, or phytophthora. If this occurs, remove the plant, burn it and disinfect the soil.

Gardens with impressive collections of holly include:

The Savill Garden
Windsor Great Park
Windsor
Berkshire SL4 2HT
Tel: 01753 860222
Website: www.theroyallandscape.co.uk

RHS Garden Rosemoor
Great Torrington
Devon EX38 8PH
Tel: 01805 624067
Website: www.rhs.org.uk