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Growing holly is a good idea from many aspects, since the denseness of it's branches means that what you are providing the garden with is an evergreen that graces the garden through all the seasons of the year, and that especially gives that special seasonal delight of red berries, suited for making your Christmas decorations look that extra bit special and personalized.

Although it is possible to grow holly from seed, this is a tedious business and buying a small plant from a nursery is a much wiser idea if you want fairly rapid results. The nursery will also be able to tell you whether the type of soil you have in your garden is suitable to sustain the plant, and which nutrients should be added to make it suitable.

Here in Europe the choice of hollies available varies considerably, and the way in which to distinguish a healthy plant is to examine the wooded area and the root ball. The wooded area should be strong and brown and many diseased hollies show signs of breakdown in the stem area which is a good giveaway that a plant is not healthy.

Where to plant the holly.

Holly is a particularly slow growing plant and by buying a small established plant, chances are that it is already strong enough to withstand change of placement and it's plantation should be in a place where is has adequate moisture, and a mixture of sunshine and shade. European climates are ideal for the holly which thrives in the mixed temperatures and humidity Northern Europe offers, although these can be grown worldwide with attention paid to details given at garden centers about particular regional differences and care methods. Acid soils seem to work well with hollies, although with the right nutrients, the soil within your garden can be balanced to give the holly all the nurture that it needs during it's settling in period.

Planting methods.

Holly needs space to develop. If planted too closely to other plants, it will become straggly and will not develop as well as if given it's own space. If you require berries, it is important that the original plant was grown near a male plant, and although people do suggest planting a male and female holly together to produce the rich, red berries, this isn't always the case in Europe. In our garden for example, I have an extremely fruitful holly that is planted alone, and can only assume that the nursery took into account the male/female situation when bringing this plant on from seed.

The hole for the bush should be two times as wide as the root ball itself,

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