Leonard Moorehead, the Urban Gardener: Holly Saves Us

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Leonard Moorehead, GoLocalWorcester Gardening Expert

Photo courtesy of Leonard Moorehead

Up a few steps from the sidewalk there is room for a single teak chair on my open front porch. Anyone can clearly see the eastern, southern and western skies beyond the tangled wires strung between wooden telephone poles. The coffee cup steams where potted petunias once filled the air with sweet fragrance. I start the day with a fine view of the waxing moon just above the eastern horizon. Venus is the morning star. The city’s hum and rumble has begun, we leave in near darkness to our workplaces to return in darkness, our only glimpse of the sun is during lunch. I like to sit on the teak chair and breath deep. Above the grand drama unfolds, dawn’s rosy fingers reach out nearly from the south, moon and Venus become mere suggestions. The night is theirs, our days short. Hollies save us.

Hollies are native to northern temperate regions. The Ilex family of small trees and shrubs share haunting beauty. The evergreen varieties are spell binding. Gender specific, female hollies produce blood crimson berries among distinctive articulated leaves. Many cultures deify the holly. Their presence disregards opinion, we no longer respect longevity as eternal nor acknowledge other beings equal to ourselves. The hollies ignore us yet we are drawn to them. We may not worship them as did Druids and we no longer cut back thick holly hedges for animal fodder. Yet their allure endures.

The winter garden is not static. Green or variegated hollies define back borders or take pride of place as specimen plants when snow and mulch blankets the soil. Hollies thrive under large hardwoods and will for urban gardeners who often find themselves planting in close quarters of dense shade or strong sunshine. Use their tolerance for shade to advantage. They are easy to root as hardwood cuttings. Browse local nurseries and select larger plants and save growth time. Indulge your tastes, hollies are famously green but there are very dark varieties that verge on navy blue and variegated white and green types to lighten a darker area.

Hollies. They thrive in sandy or gravelly acidic soil and tolerate damp. As always, prepare a fine initial start by digging a hole just a bit larger than the pot, loosen the root ball and tease out pot bound roots. Mix generous handfuls of peat moss into the hole and seat the holly even with surrounding topsoil. Don’t bury the trunk but do tuck in securely. Stake the plant for the first season or two to give the root system a chance to form an anchor against strong winds. Hollies are one of the rare shrubs that accept pine needles as mulch.

Hollies generally bloom in April and sometimes like forsythia or cherries, are tricked by January thaws into off season bloom. Their blossoms are undistinguished white clusters. Past gardeners had more insect pollinators and relied upon a male holly’s presence within 100 feet to pollinate females. Windblown pollen is tried and true among native hollies away from cities. Most gardeners plant females for their undeniably beautiful red berries. A single male holly bush can be in the background or perhaps a neighbor has one nearby. Many female hollies will fruit from fewer male plants.

Hollies withstand heavy pruning. Once established they are vigorous. Don’t be dismayed if shoots grow 6 or more inches each year. Prune back to shape and form the holly. The rewards are plentiful lateral side shoots. Foliage shapes range from the highly articulated but thorny leaves to oval forms with virtually no thorny leaves. Deciduous types are native to Zone 6 wetlands. Holly berries are staples for local wintering birds. All have attractive smooth gray bark.

The winter solstice approaches. Darkness offers fine views of Orion’s Belt and Venus is brilliant. We yearn for longer days and warm sunshine. Pay homage to past generations and hang holly on the door for good luck. Plant several and enjoy their green winter foliage from the warm side of windows. All else may be grim but never fear, the hardy holly boldly remains green. When all else is indoors, hollies save us. Eternal has many forms, thankfully the holly’s claim on us lasts for generations.

Leonard Moorehead is a life- long gardener. He practices organic-bio/dynamic gardening techniques in a side lot surrounded by city neighborhoods in Providence, RI. His adventures in composting, wood chips, manure, seaweed, hay and enormous amounts of leaves are minor distractions to the joy of cultivating the soil with flowers, herbs, vegetables, berries, and dwarf fruit tree.