Holly Anyone???

Mad Mike

Deck the halls with boughs of ????

I went to four different Christmas tree sellers today and none of them have any Holly. The last guy told me that a new EU law effectively bans cutting Holly because it is getting scarce . Does anyone know if this is true?

Wertz

Same as last year...only one sex of the holly bush (male?) produces the coveted red berries and as you mention it's become a protected species as the berries are one of the few fruits about at this time of year that winter birds rely on for nutrition.

That's not to say that it's not available....I'm sure there's plenty of unscrupulous idiots out there that would be only too willing to sell you a bootlaod of the stuff for the right price and to hell with the birds.
What's wrong with using an artificial susbstitue? Plenty of people do it for trees...

Mad Mike

Thanks for explaining that - Far be it from me to starve the birdlings. Strikes me that there is a potential opportuntiy there fro someone who figures out how to farm Holly in the same way christmas trees are farmed.

el tel

If you do be a naughty chap and cut some holly
from a holly tree make sure you pay mother nature
back by leaving the berries back when you are finished
or by feeding wee birds in general

Wertz

Ah but AFAIK on the farming thing, holly bushes take a long time to mature.
I recall when I was very young, my grandfather planting a cutting from another bush and watching it grow every year....I grew up faster than it did. 20 or so odd years later and it's still only about a metre and a half and not that bushy...also it's only ever produced very few berries; something to do with the soil. Christmas trees are one thing...I mean you can farm those from saplings in about 3-4 years (I think) and sell em for a tidy profit....but 2 decades for something that'll likely only yield enough for a coupla door wreaths isn't exactly great turnover...better to go off out into the hedgerows with a pair of secateurs.

I'm sure at one point there were places that you could likely harvest so many cuttings from so many bushes every year but that a lot of owners got greedy and killed the bushes with over trimming...

Doper Than U

Wertz wrote:

I'm sure at one point there were places that you could likely harvest so many cuttings from so many bushes every year but that a lot of owners got greedy and killed the bushes with over trimming...

We had a HUGE Holly bush that was covered in red berries. It was beautiful. I decided that closer to Christmas I would take a sprig for our house. I clearly had left it too late as the local Travellers came up to our land, trespassed, and chopped most of the bush down :mad: :mad: It still hasn't recovered. F*ckers. I hope they choke.

However, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would cut you a piece if you asked nicely.

Wertz

Doper Than U wrote:

We had a HUGE Holly bush that was covered in red berries. It was beautiful. I decided that closer to Christmas I would take a sprig for our house. I clearly had left it too late as the local Travellers came up to our land, trespassed, and chopped most of the bush down :mad: :mad: It still hasn't recovered. F*ckers. I hope they choke.

^

Wertz wrote:

I'm sure there's plenty of unscrupulous idiots out there that would be only too willing to sell you a bootlaod of the stuff for the right price...

Doper Than U wrote:

However, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would cut you a piece if you asked nicely.

That's apparently the only legal way to get it...unless you're a knacker and the laws of the land seemingly don't apply...

rubadub

Holly goes for about €150 an ounce around my parts, ye have to watch out because some bastards glue fake berries on.

homah_7ft

No thanks.

I am sorry but I didn't have time to read more than the thread title.

netwhizkid

Yes Holly is a lovely way of decorating your home although at a heavy environmental cost. I myself have about 30 to 40 Holly Tress growing on my farm and this year about half bloomed although the majority too early and the birds indulged bless them, 4 trees remained in bloom yesterday and i had 3 branches about the length of my arm, and I would never sell the stuff i give a little to my close relatives and for personal use. However I have discovered that putting early Holly in November or before it into Hay preserves it in time for Christmas, On another note, A relative had a beautiful tree growing roadside and the local "Friendly" :mad: Travellers came and cut it at the root and took the whole tree, They really are the scum of the earth. I plan to use all this years berries to try and regenerate new trees. Once about three years ago the wind knocked a Holly tree and we had some firewood and after counting the rings it was over 150yrs old. I don't expect a return on my berries this year until I'm a granddaddy, still if everyone did it, It would be a Environmentally Friendly way to decorate at Xmas Providing it was done in a renewable way. I myself have a rule of never harvesting berries of the same tree for about 5 to 7 years after I last harvested.

netwhizkid

In Reference to above this link has a little more info, there is a website listed in the Examiner's story however it wouldn't work for me. Try it yourself who knows.

mickymg2003

Didnt realise it was endangered. Theres always been loads of it around my house and we dont even use it really except for a tiny bit and maybe give some to friend who wants it.

tintinr35

a traveller came into my shop today offering me some "fresh holly"
i declined as i would imagine it was freshly robbed holly!

samo

Saw a lot of red berried holly in Marlay Park in Dublin recently - must have been stripped bare by now if its as rare as you say :eek: