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Transitioning to Holly
May. 21st, 2004 02:07 pmHolly seems like a good protective plant - I would tend to avoid crashing through a thicket of holly, unless I wasn't too fond of keeping my skin intact. The leaves are tough and sharp and stick every which way... I've planted a hedge of them along the right-hand fence - hopefully at some point I will no longer see my neighbor's yard. I don't believe the branches grow too thick and heavy, so there won't be a danger of large branches falling on the houses, but it will make an obscuring barrier, a wall of "do not pass this point" so to speak. The phrase "You shall not pass!" seems to typify it.
from http://www.gondar.co.uk/computer/holly.html
"Holly has prickly, curly, leathery, shiny, dark green leaves. Some ornamental hollies have variegated, yellowish leaves. It is an evergreen tree, which means the leaves stay on the tree all year round. In fact, a leaf may remain for several years before falling. Even then, the leaves take years to rot. So, don't sit down under a holly tree.
The tree can grow anywhere - it's not fussy about soil. It can easily grow in the shade under larger forest trees - its dark green leaves are good at catching what light there is. It can grow as tall as fifteen metres, but is usually less than that, especially under other trees. Most people keep their hollies as bushes or in a hedge.
Hollies produce little whitish flowers in May. Some are male trees, with flowers that produce pollen. They never have berries. And there are female trees whose flowers do not produce pollen, but they do have ovaries that develop into the familiar red berries. Holly berries are poisonous to humans, though birds eat them, and if the weather is severe in November, you won't have any berries on your Christmas holly."
from http://www.gondar.co.uk/computer/holly.html
"Holly has prickly, curly, leathery, shiny, dark green leaves. Some ornamental hollies have variegated, yellowish leaves. It is an evergreen tree, which means the leaves stay on the tree all year round. In fact, a leaf may remain for several years before falling. Even then, the leaves take years to rot. So, don't sit down under a holly tree.
The tree can grow anywhere - it's not fussy about soil. It can easily grow in the shade under larger forest trees - its dark green leaves are good at catching what light there is. It can grow as tall as fifteen metres, but is usually less than that, especially under other trees. Most people keep their hollies as bushes or in a hedge.
Hollies produce little whitish flowers in May. Some are male trees, with flowers that produce pollen. They never have berries. And there are female trees whose flowers do not produce pollen, but they do have ovaries that develop into the familiar red berries. Holly berries are poisonous to humans, though birds eat them, and if the weather is severe in November, you won't have any berries on your Christmas holly."
