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Holly tree now producing berries! Strange

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  • 23-12-2007 7:13pm
    #1
    artieanna
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭


    We have a number of holly trees on our land and only one produces berries. However, This year I was out walking and I noticed (to my delight) that one of the trees that never before produced berries had a light crop of berries.

    I read a long time ago that the majority of holly trees are male.

    What caused this one to produce berries? There must be an explanation...


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    #2
    bmaxi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,859 ✭✭✭bmaxi


    If it produced berries then it is female. How old are the trees? It may be just that it is less mature than the other one. If you can wait until flowering it is easy to tell which are the males, they have, usually four, stalks with yellow pods on the ends, in the flowers.


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    #3
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,470 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Basically if it doesn't produce berries it's either a) a male tree, b) an immature female tree or c) a female tree that hasn't been fertilized for whatever reason (male plant not close enough, bad weather at main pollination time, flowers killed by frost etc.). There are some cultivated varieties that are bisexual which will always give berries, but the standard wild variety won't.


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    #4
    pjq
    Registered Users Posts: 377 ✭✭pjq


    I have had masses of berries for the last 4 years , maybe because the tree is mature or maybe because I cut some small branshes from male plants at flowering time and place them under the holly tree in a bucket of water . Before I took matters in hand I had plenty of flowers but the green berries fell off in July ( not fertilized I suppose).
    pjq


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    #5
    artieanna
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭artieanna


    Its in place over thirty years so it mature enough I'd say. Alun may have hit the mark it may just not have been fertilized..

    Still I find it very bizarre that it never produced berries before!

    The reason it was so noticable was when we were kids we played football in that field year round and had to cross lots of fields to get holly with berries for mam at christmas. We knew none of the nearer trees had berries. I was gobsmacked when I saw this tree with an ample supply of berries.


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