Tips on planting Christmas greenery
By By Gail Barton / horticulture columnist
Dec. 22, 2002
Winter weather usually does not inspire people to garden. It does, however, inspire many to become collectors of greenery especially around Christmas.
I spent some time scouting around my garden folks for evergreen boughs and came to the conclusion that I don't have enough winter berries in my landscape.
I plan to plant a few hollies and other evergreens during my Christmas break to supply clippings for Christmas Future. As a bonus, the new berry varieties will certainly attract new birds to the backyard buffet.
I think the most Christmasy looking hollies are the native American holly trees and the Chinese hollies. If you plant a young holly specifically to provide Christmas berries, buy a plant that already has some fruit. A seedling holly without berries has a 50/50 chance of being a male that will never bear fruit.
Hollies have two sexes. Both male (staminate) and female (pistillate) have inconspicuous greenish flowers in spring. Male flowers produce pollen and fall off the tree. Female flowers that receive pollen mature into berries.
Some holly cultivars like Savannah and Burford are consistently good fruit producers because they are pistillate clones selected for fruiting ability.
Regular American holly is rarely seen in local nurseries. However, American holly is a parent of two hybrids that are good fruit producers. Savannah holly can be found in just about any garden center.
Savannah looks remarkably like American holly with light green spiny leaves and lots of day-glow red berries. Like its American holly parent, Savannah can reach 30' or more.
Foster's holly is another American holly offspring that highlights the streets of downtown Meridian. Foster's fruit display is similar to that of Savannah. The leaves however are much smaller and much darker green.
Savannah and the some of the other hollies with American holly parentage can have yellowish foliage.
Winter is a good time to fertilize hollies because the roots are active and can absorb nutrients needed for spring growth. I like to follow with a second fertilization after growth begins in spring.
Chinese hollies have larger berries than our natives and their hybrids. Even though it's been around forever, I'm still a fan of Burford Chinese holly. Burford has dark green leaves with one to three spines toward the tip.
A large old Burford holly laden with berries is a sight to behold. The prettiest specimens I see around town have been trained into multi-trunked small trees. With age Burford holly can reach 20 feet or more.
Needless to say, it does need plenty of room. Dwarf Burford holly has smaller leaves. It grows more slowly than regular Burford holly but can still reach 10 feet or more.
Other holly varieties that I like for Christmas are Nellie R. Stevens holly, lusterleaf holly and Mary Nell holly. These may be more difficult to find in local garden centers.
I enjoy using other evergreens for winter decorations or flower arrangements.
But nothing decks the halls quite like boughs of holly.
And nothing is quite as beautiful as berried boughs sparkling with frost or a flock of cedar waxwings feasting on the fruit.
