The American holly is listed on some sites as a bit more at risk in Pennsylvania than NatureServe lists it. That’s why this tree is included in the Species of Concern category. That being said, this tree does re-seed abundantly on my property. It pops up in my lawn, my flowerbeds, the woods, everywhere. I’m sharing this abundance with you.
American hollies are planted for future generations
This tree can reach up to 100 feet tall, but it takes hundreds of years to do so. American holly only grows at around 6 inches per year in height at best. This is a very slow-growing tree. I have wild, old specimens on my property, but the largest of them maybe reaches 25-30 ft in height as a guess. To put that into perspective, that would mean these trees are at minimum 50-60 years old, but are possibly much older than that. This is how slowly they grow.
Will any of them ever reach the maximum 100 feet? I’d like to hope so. I’d like to think that long after I’m gone, others feel called to preserve the little bit of remnant left, where others around us have wiped it out. Sadly, none currently stand at that massive height. This tree on the grounds of the Indian Steps museum in Airville, PA, is believed to be the one of the tallest American holly trees. The estimated germination date is early to mid 1700s, and last measured at just over 66ft in 2018.
Based on what I’ve seen, I do think that at younger ages, they start out quickly and slow down after they reach a certain size.
They can be coppiced and pollarded
After what I’d just written, it would seem shameful to cut it down. However, if you’d like to grow them as a hedge, you can absolutely grow them to a taller size, then cut them down at the base. The following year, the American holly will sprout out multiple shoots. I learned this by accident while attempting to thin out some of the large specimens in the woods.
I have a section with hollies that had seeded within feet of one another, creating a sort of wall. Some have grown up to shade out a really old blueberry bush that’s 6ft tall, and no longer producing fruit due to lack of sun. I thought that because they were so big, if I cut them down to a stump, that would be enough.
It makes sense that they resprout, because these trees are deer tolerant. The idea that hollies start out with round leaves and become spikey as a result of herbivory isn’t exactly true. I have a photo of a seedling I pulled showing the spiny leaves. The deer don’t seem to be too bothered by the spines on the leaves, though they don’t browse mine often. If the tree is browsed, it just sends up more shoots.
Do you enjoy seeing birds in winter?
Hollies provide winter shelter for a number of wild species, especially songbirds that remain in the area. Robins will roost in them en-masse. Their red berries persist long into the cold winter months. You would think they would eat these before winter, but the birds forage on other things first. Once everything else is gone, the holly berries slowly begin to disappear. By the time spring arrives, the tree is bare, ready to produce a new crop.
These trees are dioecious.
What this means is only the female American holly trees produce fruit. I have no way of knowing if the trees in my shop are male or female. They are far too young to begin flowering and producing fruit. That being said, it would appear (based on the mature trees in my woods) that female trees occur more commonly than male ones. Since American hollies are a popular garden tree already, if you were to only plant a female tree, it would likely still be pollinated and set fruit.
Hollies really struggle with drought.
Established trees can survive droughts, but they won’t be their best. The very first thing to go are any fruit that were beginning to form after pollination in spring. This means that there little to no fruit present on hollies after a year like last (2024 drought). Drought stress also lowers their defenses, making them more susceptible to pathogens.
Even if they drop all of their leaves in winter, if they’re established trees, they are likely to put out a flush of fresh leaves in spring. Evergreens aren’t permanent-greens. They do renew their leaves from time to time. Usually they do this a little at a time, so it isn’t noticeable, but it’s possible they would drop more after a challenging year.
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