Why do some English holly trees have no berries?
I also have some that produce a good berry crop, but when the berry is half formed, they all drop. A) The male or pollen-bearing trees never have berries. Only the trees with the female or pistillate flowers will fruit. The problem of the berries dropping off sounds like the female flowers have not been properly fertilized with pollen. A male tree should be near by to make certain pollination occurs. There are incidents where a male tree has been present and the Holly tree stops producing berries. Such incidents are difficult to explain. Some trees are alternate in their bearing habit, having a large crop of fruit one year and very few fruits the next. Sometimes a cold, rainy season, just when the pollen is ripe, prevents its distribution by wind and insects. To learn more details about Christmas trees, traditions and tree forms, check out Today’s features on the Coles County Extension home page http://extension.uiuc.edu/coles/. If you have any horticulture questions, call the local U
