November 20th 2008 saw the beginning of the holly gathering season in the New Forest. Hollyers are allocated areas that they can cut from so that the harvest doesn't cause any detriment to the holly trees.
The pruning technique used by the gatherers is a fine lesson in how to prune large bushes and trees. When a tree has been cropped you can barely tell anything has been done because no large branches are taken and the cutting is done in an informal way to retain a natural shape.
Hollyers have been part of the scene in the New Forest for hundreds of years, in fact back in the early 1900s folks who lived on my smallholding used to make part of their meagre living from that activity.
Much of the early cut holly gets used for the making of fresh wreaths, simple decorations that these days have a wire or plastic base, but in the old days the base was made from grass gathered from woodland rides.
If you see butchered holly trees in the New Forest don't blame the hollyers, chances are the trees will have been pollarded by New Forest Keepers who cut the branches in the depths of winter for the deer and ponies to munch on. The stumps re-grow and in a few decades get pollarded once again. This practice has moulded the old hollies into the characterful trees that can be seen around the Forest.
The pruning technique used by the gatherers is a fine lesson in how to prune large bushes and trees. When a tree has been cropped you can barely tell anything has been done because no large branches are taken and the cutting is done in an informal way to retain a natural shape.
Hollyers have been part of the scene in the New Forest for hundreds of years, in fact back in the early 1900s folks who lived on my smallholding used to make part of their meagre living from that activity.
Much of the early cut holly gets used for the making of fresh wreaths, simple decorations that these days have a wire or plastic base, but in the old days the base was made from grass gathered from woodland rides.
If you see butchered holly trees in the New Forest don't blame the hollyers, chances are the trees will have been pollarded by New Forest Keepers who cut the branches in the depths of winter for the deer and ponies to munch on. The stumps re-grow and in a few decades get pollarded once again. This practice has moulded the old hollies into the characterful trees that can be seen around the Forest.
What about Mistletoe in the UK - Who has it in their garden?
Here in France there is an amazing amount everywhere.
Posted by: Philip Voice | November 22, 2008 at 07:15 PM