Holly Varieties for Labyrinth/Maze

I want to plant some "variations" along my [planned] holly labyrinth (i.e. a maze, but with a single route) which is basically a rather useless triangular area at the narrow end of my plot.

I'm planning to base it on a similar feature at East Ruston Old Vicarage, which I made a sketch / dimensions of:



and some photos of their maze:








(The open circles look a lot larger in those photos than they feel when you are there!

Here are some varieties I've been looking at:

Ilex x altaclerensis Golden King
Female (what twit decided to call it "King" then?!), nearly spine-free, green centre with wide gold margins; retains variegation in the shade.




Ilex x altaclerensis "Lawsoniana"
Amongst the brightest of all hollies, large and almost spine-free leaves bright yellow / green centre dark green margin. Brownish red berries in large clusters. Rather upright in growth. Remove any all-green branches.


Ilex aquifolium "Argentea Marginata"
Young shoots pinkish-red. Broad leaves with dark green centre and cream white margin. Glossy, bright red berries. Vigorous, ideal for hedge or topiary



Ilex a. Handsworth New Silver
Female, dark purple stems, narrow spiny, mid-green centre and broad creamy margins; retains variegation in the shade. Prolific crop of berries.
(stronger variegation in the Male - called "Silver Queen" - you couldn't make this up, could you!)


That photo seems representative, but the RHS photo makes it look a lot less spiny:



Ilex aquifolium Madame Briot
Female, purple stems, large spiny, dark green centre with broad gold margins; retains variegation in the shade. Broad growth. (Male is Ilex a. Aureo Marginata)



Ilex aquifolium Ferox Argentea
Male, v. spiny, shiny green centre with broad creamy white margins; retains variegation in the shade.


Ilex aquifolium J. C. van Tol
self-fertile Female, nearly spine-free, shiny dark green. shade tolerant. Open habit. Not variegated, only included here as self-fertile (great for containers where no males available nearby)


I have grown some ("some" ... ha ha ha ... 2-or-3-hundred ...) bog standard Ilex aquifolium. These will be for the hedges along the "connecting paths" and then I plan to plant some variegated varieties for some "circles" that the connecting paths join onto.

Will the Males in the straight paths polinate the varietgated? or do the males need to be "really close" to the females (that's always been my technique!) or, worse, need to be the varietagted type to polinate?

Or ... do you think it would be better to plant Male-only varietgated so that there are NO berries?

 

Not a holly, but it looks remarkably similar. Has the advantage of lovely flowers for the summer to add colour. It's Desfontiania spinosa................

 

When I first looked at the plan Kristen I thought, a Holly maze.....ermmm, is that not going to tear skin as you walk through, especially when it fills out. I think I'd be inclined to go for the softer leaved varieties, but obviously it's your choice.

 

Good point, but I think Kristen's got lots of space so the paths don't have to be very narrow. Holly wouldn't need too much pruning so a good choice from the labour point of view.

 

Amazing how useful this forum is

I like the idea of snowdrops Only "downer" is that this is the furthest point from the house, and realistically in the depths of Winter we never walk up to that part of the garden ... in fact I've been struggling with choosing a location to create a Winter garden, the place [currently] chosen is at the opposite end of the garden, still not exactly "next to" the house, and round the back of the vegetable patch (so not on the main drag route to anywhere ...) but it does have some relatively light canopy trees.

Perhaps if we had winter interested in the Holly Maze we would go to that end of the garden? !!! Oh! I don't know!! ... "I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure"

I'll have a chat with the family, definitely not something I had considered, thanks

Less worried about the berries. The main "straight path" hedges will be plain Holly, so 50% of those will have berries (more if I get the chance to pre-select the Females before they get planted, the useless males can then be sold on eBay).

Paths are 1.5M / 5' wide, so I don't have a concern on that point, however if it was an actual [multi-path] maze then I think it would be an issue as half the fun of those is to run around everywhere, as a kid, with your hands trailing along the hedges. This is more of a "go for a walk" type structure (and really its aim is to fill an otherwise very difficult to design triangular wedge), so I don't think people will be brushing against the walls

Love it!! You know me too well ... I can just imagine walking round the garden with 99% of any of my friends:

"Is that a Holly flower then?"
"Yes, have you not seen Holly in flower before?"

Sadly Alkaline soil here, and I need things that aren't going to be too dear to buy in bulk (or are easy to propagate). Fully hardy would help too!!

But it begs the question as to whether there are any Holly-like plants that would blend in with the pathway hedges?

Hidcote (and others) adopted dual-variety planting of hedges (Box & Yew, Beech & Holly), and I absolutely hated it (with the exception of a combination I saw at Kiftsgate which was Copper Beech and a variegated Holly - but even that I wouldn't plant for my own garden), but maybe there are other choices to consider?

 

Wow stuff dreams are made of Kristen...i'd go for the Argentea Marginata...you get the berries for the wild life and you get your butt to wander around it in the depths of winter

 

Thanks Loli .... a bit of fun I hope

Looking closely at the my photos I think:

1st circle is Ilex x altaclerensis Golden King around the perimeter, and either "Argentea Marginata" of "Handsworth New Silver" for the centre piece, with a plain holly growing out of the top (I've got a nice, and slightly unusual, one called Ilex x meserveae Blue Angel which I bought at Great Dixter a year or so ago, that might be nice there)

I think the 2nd circle is Golden King around the perimeter too. Perhaps a Eucalyptus in the middle.

Ain't got any photos of the third circle :( (Although: good excuse to go back again!)

I like the idea of yellow-variegated around the perimeter and white-variegated in the middle. Might alternate that in one of the other circles.

 

Sounds amazing Kristen....but why not just go for one species...it will still look amazing

 

Yes, I think it would look good even in single-variety. However, I did like the contrast of each "circle" walking through the maze at East Ruston (I haven't got any suitable Photos that demonstrate the contrast, sorry :( ). Mind you, all the colour schemes at East Ruston are "alternative" but there's lots to like. I think it "adds a bit of fun" because you are only going to just walk through it, and I need a reason for "regulars" to want to walk through it more than just the once! Loofah's Snowdrops suggestion is growing on me for just that reason ... I wonder if I could introduce some similar Summer interest (whilst still keeping it "Holly")?

Eucomis along the foot of the hedge perhaps?

 

That thought crossed my mind, but I wonder how much "width" (of the path) they would take up?

Presumably I can just plant them all "on top of each other" (although I think the Daff foliage would smother the flowering Snowdrops? Maybe snowdrops are early enough that won't be a problem ... I'll take some notes next Spring!)

Bluebells would spread everwhere, so I think I'll not encourage them.

Any suggestions for things that would work for Summer?