HOLLIES 
THE GENUS ILEX 
IN HORTICULTURAL USAGE 
by 
H. STUART ORTLOFF, L. A. 
The many species of holly [Ilex] and their varieties, 
constitute a most interesting group of small trees and 
shrubs, both deciduous and evergreen, useful for many 
landscape purposes. Their thick, light-reflecting foliage 
and attractive berries in season can do much to enrich 
ornamental plantings about the home and in winter they 
are invaluable. 
Usually many of these plants are used as specimens 
on lawns and in gardens, standing by themselves. Where 
there is room for them to develop properly they are 
handsome, but if the space allotted to them is too re- 
stricted, and they are therefore continually clipped back, 
the effect is not always as successful, from a pictorial 
point of view, as it might be. On the other hand, the 
plants themselves do not resent shearing, and they are 
therefore exceedingly useful for hedges of various sorts, 
or where a severly clipped and formalized plant is re- 
quired. Hollies are extremely effective as accent plants 
or grouped around some garden focal point. To back up 
a garden terminal feature and thus strengthen theclimactic 
effect of the garden design, there is nothing finer. 
Practically all the hollies can, however, be used in 
mass plantings as well as for specimens, and they should 
be more widely so used. They can provide a dense screen 
or background and are in themselves highly decorative. 
Nice combinations of foliage texture are possible with 
them, giving a composition great subtlety and charm. 
Many of the native species, among them the evergreen 
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