Winter Berry Shrub Gardening

It can be Christmas all year round if you plant winter berry (Ilex verticillata), a member of the holly family, in your yard. Perhaps this is a slight exaggeration, but its deep red berries do ripen from late summer and remain through the winter. Before berries ripen, winter berry produces miniature, cream-colored flowers; the shrub's leaves are a stunning, glossy green. Winter berry makes an ideal landscaping shrub to fill a blank space; some varieties grow tall enough to provide rows of privacy. When you purchase transplants, ask whether they are self-fertilizing or if you need to plant both male and female shrubs. A rule of thumb is to plant one male shrub near three to five female shrubs.

Winter berry shrubs
Compost
Watering can
Mulch
Shovel
Pitchfork

Instructions

- 1
  Select an area that receives full sun and where the soil is slightly acidic. Georgia Gardener's Guide recommends an area at the bottom of an incline where rain water collects, as long as the soil is not compact.
- 2
  Remove weeds from your planting area. Work organic compost into the soil with the aid of a pitchfork.
- 3
  Dig a hole, for each transplant that is the same depth as the base of the rootball. The hole should be three times the width of the rootball.
- 4
  Remove any string or wire from each transplant. Place transplants in their designated holes and cover with surrounding dirt. Tug lightly on the stem of each transplant to make sure it is packed in the ground.
- 5
  Surround each transplant with mulch, such as bark chips or pine straw, to prevent weeds from growing and to maintain moisture. Water each transplant generously.
- 6
  Continue to water your winterberry shrubs once a month; water more frequently during drought periods.

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