Garden plant: ivy

This is the second post in my survey of plants found in my Dorset garden. I intend to cover everything, including unwanted intruders, which is the category ivy falls into. Sort of.

Ivy grows in several place in the garden, both along the ground and up the conifers along the eastern boundary. It's not a major nuisance at the moment, but I do need to cut it back from time to time, when it spreads beyond the spaces where I tolerate it.

Ivy is the common name for hedera, according to Wikipedia. There are around 15 different species and I'm guessing that what's in my garden is hedera helix, the common ivy.

There seems to have been some debate about the damage that ivy causes to trees by growing up the trunk. According to the RHS, ivy is not a problem on healthy trees, as it is not parasitic. It is good for wildlife, creating cover for birds and insects.

Ivy usually only reaches the top of trees that are dead or dying, so it can be an indicator of tree health. In my garden it's grown high into several conifers, probably assisted by their having been heavily cut back on the eastern side (by neighbours, into whose garden they were growing). This left the tree open on the one side, allowing ivy to thrive.

The conifers are being felled over time, so I have no problem with the ivy growing into them. It comes down when they do.

Garden plant: holly

Holly - ilex aquifolium, I assume

This is the first post in an ambitious attempt to survey my garden, plant by plant. It may take a while and I'll be including weeds.

Taking a logical approach, I'm starting in one corner of the garden, with a holly tree. It's 3-4 metres high (10-14 ft) and I've already lopped the top off it once. The only reason it's been cut down down further is that it provides a partial screen from the neighbour's garden. As other shrubs grow up, that role is diminishing and I expect to be able to cut it down to just a metre or so next year.

New growth, with the reddy tinge

As with so many plants, the common name applies to a wide variety of species. Wikipedia tells me there are between 400 and 600 species of holly. Which one have I got?

My holly has the spikey leaf shape we associate with holly, and the leaves are a dark, waxy green. New growth is even darker, with a deep reddy tinge to the leaf edges. It produces small white flowers in the spring but no berries. Not having berries suggests that it's a male plant.

Probably my plant is an example of ilex aquifolium, or common holly. But with the hundreds of varieties out there, it could be something else. I'm not sure how I'd find out, nor is it particularly important for me to know.

It's relatively fast growing and, when cut back, sprouts new growth from the trunk or branches. Currently a tree, I'm probably going to reduce it to a low bush.

Over the last few years I've come across several new holly plants growing in the garden, which I assume have seeded from this tree. However, given that you need a male and female holly tree to create seed, I'm not sure how this is happening. I'm not aware of a female (fruiting) holly nearby.

Young holly plant

I have dug up and potted some of these young holly plants, for possible future use in the garden as hedging.