The useful holly makes an ideal hedge and does well in informal groups and as a background for dogwood and other flowering shrubs, but perhaps nowhere is it more effective in landscape work than when planted with plenty of room to grow into a beautiful specimen tree.
You will enjoy it for a long time, for every holly should live to be at least 100 years old. Many of the hollies which furnish my cutting stock are from 300 to 400 years old; some are said to be even older.
Growing Holly
The only hard part about growing holly is establishing it. This is easy if you use plenty of oak leaf mold when planting. Add more every two years, and always keep a blanket of oak leaf mold over the roots. I have found that this is the real secret of success with hollies.
If you use enough of it, little else is necessary to grow beautiful specimens. Oak leaf mold furnishes the necessary food, holds moisture and is a wonderful insulating blanket in both winter and summer.
Frost penetrates such a cover only about 3” inches, while without a blanket, frost will penetrate the ground beside a holly tree to a depth of 24” to 30” inches.
In summer, it is of equal value; many times, summer heat will kill the little rootlets near the surface.
Don’t Use Chemical Fertilizers
Chemical fertilizers should not be used on hollies. No food other than oak leaf mold should be given unless growth seems slight and the color somewhat light.
If such a condition occurs, put on some cottonseed meal and tobacco in early spring, fall, or both.
Use a hoe and cultivator sparingly; just keep weeds and grass from growing over the roots.
Right Soil
Don’t worry about the right soil; holly grows equally well in sand, gravel, clay, or rock.
Remember, though, to use lots of oak leaf mold when you plant and to give them plenty of water.
Watering
A good watering once a week until the plant is established good practice on all newly planted trees. We always build a little ridge or dike to hold water; this allows a real soaking when you water.
Care In Winter
As hollies are most attractive in winter when they display their red berries, try to select a spot where your tree will be easily seen from indoors.
If you live north of Philadelphia or at a high altitude, consider protecting yourself from cold, dry winds.
If there is no protection in front buildings or groups of evergreens, put up a snow knee. Then, all you have to do is break the force of the wind.
Do not wrap the trees with burlap. I have seen valuable hollies injured or killed by the use of burlap wrapping.
They can stand a lot more wind, for in, Aanee, than hemlocks. Ocean winds do little harm; I have sold many hollies to replace oceanfront pines destroyed by hurricanes.
Transplanting Hollies
Hollies can be transplanted almost any time of the year if dug with a large, tight ball of earth around the roots, but March, April, September, and October are much better months.
The poorest time to move the plants is when the hollies have tender new growth; in New Jersey, this is in late May and June.
Our large, dense specimens, which may be 10’ to 18’ feet high and weigh up to six tons, do better when transplanted into our smaller stock.
With age, hollies with multiple stems develop into more perfect specimens than single-trunk trees.
After 50 years or more, most single-trunk hollies tend to develop open spaces and grow thinner and more scraggly, while multiple-stem stock stays compact and grows thicker and heavier with age.
Unlike hemlock and arborvitae, they are not pulled apart in winter by snow and ice, and they grow about the same number of inches in height per year as single-trunk trees.
Years ago, the demand by landscape architects was mostly for single-stern hollies; now, I sell ten multiple-stemmed large specimen hollies to one with a single trunk.
New Named Hollies
Today, American hollies sold by horticulturists are vastly improved over most of those one could buy 25 years ago.
More and more hollies are now sold by name; it is much safer to buy them by name.
Named hollies are comparatively new, however, and most of us know little about the merits of the individual trees.
I will try to give you some personal observations from my 40 years of experience in working with hollies.
Cape Cod And Massachusetts Swarf
Young hollies show little individuality, but as they mature, they differ greatly. Some are quite dwarf and compact. Perhaps the most dwarfs are CAPE COD and MASSACHUSETTS DWARF.
These have medium-sized leaves and hear many berries. Both lose their dwarf habit when planted away from the ocean in the mountains or the Midwest.
Clarice And Christmas Hedge
CLARICE is a good variety for hedges and has been used for quite a long time. It is a heavy hearer, and the leaves are a good green.
Unfortunately, it loses its berries in late winter and sometimes drops most of its leaves, too. CHRISTMAS HEDGE bears heavily and is larger, darker leaves.
Holly Trees
As for specimen holly trees, there are many good ones. Griscom grows tall and narrow like some firs and cedars and has dark leaves with a lute of berries.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and OLD HEAVY BERRY grow into tall trees which are much broader and not so compact.
Merry Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS is one of the hardiest varieties of American hollies. The parent tree is located high in the Catskills above Eldred, N. Y. Its leaves are large and dark and bear fruit consistently yearly.
It does well in Michigan, and all the northern tier of states eastward and seems to do better in mountain areas than other hales.
Old Heavy Berry
OLD HEAVY BERRY is my favorite. Built like an oak, it has character and remarkable vigor. There is a playhouse among its branches, and I have often climbed to its top. The leaves are dark, very heavy, and ribbed.
Its name is an indication of the way it bears berries. About 50 years ago, the whole top was broken off, and a bonfire built under the tree burned it so badly it seemed it could not recover, but today this OLD HEAVY BERRY is a beautiful specimen.
Bountiful
BOUNTIFUL, another good holly, is quite different in structure from OLD HEAVY BERRY. It is a magnificent tree, with all its Iight, willowy branches radiating from a straight central trunk.
With its leaves stripped, this holly tree would look for all the world like a pin oak. The tips of its lower branches touch the ground, and many have taken root.
Arden and Cardinal
ARDEN does not grow quite as large as the other four varieties. Its leaves are apt to lie rather light, but its berries are prominently displayed.
Some of the good named hales bind their berries among the leaves. CARDINAL, like ARDEN, displays a heavy set of berries every year.
Croonenburg
CROONENBURG, with large, dark loaves and lots of berries, is one of the best of the Southern hollies. Thus who have tried to grow it north of New Jersey have found that it is not hardy enough for that area.
Yellow Berries
CANARY is an unusual holly with bright yellow berries. I found it growing deep in the Great Smokies, where it stood on a small bluff between a dry ditch and a mountain stream.
It was probably 100 years old and was as straight as tulip poplar and covered with berries.
About 15’ feet away stood a large red-berried holly. The limbs of the two trees interlaced so that masses of red berries were mingled with the bright yellow ones.
Branches of each tree extended far into the other, yet the same pollen brought by bees made yellow berries on one branch and red on the other.
I believe those two hollies growing side by side deep in the forest made a greater impression on me than any other hollies I have ever seen.
44659 by Earle Dilatush