Ilex or holly has 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.

Recommended varieties

Holly is very versatile and can be grown as a bushy shrub or small specimen tree. Its dense, slow-growing habit makes it suitable for topiary training and it's also 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 sex of the plant before purchasing at a garden centre. (cultivar names are not always a good guide to their sex eg. Ilex aquifolium 'Silver Queen' is a male plant while Ilex altaclerensis 'Golden King' is female.)

Plants that 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. These plants have good resistance to pollution.
* Ilex x altaclerensis 'Golden King' (female)
* Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox'. If you're looking for a quirky unusual variety try this, - it has spines on the leaf surface.
* Ilex x altaclerensis 'Wilsonii' is a vigorous, female tree producing scarlet berries when pollinated, with a dense upright growth habit. This upright tree will reach a height of 8m (25ft). The young branches are greenish-purple, producing glossy, spiney leaves.
* Ilex opaca


Self-fertile species include:

* Ilex aquifolium 'J.C. van Tol', grows to about 4.6m,15ft, produces red berries and is one of the less prickly varieties. The variety 'Golden van Tol' has attractive golden-edged leaves and the young branches are purple, making it an attractive decoration for christmas.
* Ilex aquifolium 'Pyramdalis' is a self-fertile female and therefore does not require a pollinator).


Growing tips

* Plant hollies in late winter or early spring.
* Buy plants young as mature plants do not like being transplanted.
* Ilex can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, but prefers a well-drained soil.
* It grows with sun or shade, but variegated foliage varieties will be better in the sun or semi shade.
* They are low maintenance plants - prune in late spring to maintain their shape.
* Trees respond well to hard pruning or even pollarding.
* Except for one or two self-fertile varieties, plant both male and female plants to ensure berries appear on the female plant.
* Prune out any green-leaved branches on variegated species.


Problem solver

If few or no berries produced: It's probably because the plant is male. Alternatively it could be a female plant that hasn't been pollinated by a male plant.

Another reason for a poor show of berries is because cold winds and wet periods during flowering can deter insects from pollinating the plants.

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