Reduced Holly Berry Yields Observed This Year

This year, the customary presence of red holly berries in many Christmas decorations will be diminished, as the trees are described as having “taken the year off.” Nick Coller, a holly farmer operating in the Broads region of Norfolk and Suffolk, reported that his revenue would amount to “20% of what they usually are” due to the majority of his trees not yielding berries. This reduction follows an “exceptional” harvest for growers last year, leading him to anticipate a lower yield this year, though he stated, “I was hoping for a few more than we actually did get.” Bob Flowerdew, an author and garden expert, explained that the trees were “feeling weak, they don’t really want to have another baby straight away.” The BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time expert elaborated, “The same thing happens with apples, one year you get a fantastic crop, the tree gets exhausted, it just takes a year off.” He noted that apple producers address this by thinning their crops to achieve fewer, larger fruits. However, he added, “You can’t do that with holly berries, there are too many of them.” Mr. Coller cultivates 100 varieties of holly across five to six acres (two to 2.5 hectares) situated near Ludham. He mentioned that holly trees typically require a couple of years to yield berries, and the combination of wet conditions and a warm spring in 2023 led to “a monster crop for us.” He had previously cautioned his customers that “we’re going to see a year of very, very few berries because we’d had experience of this in the past,” referencing his family’s commercial sales of holly, which commenced in 1967 from trees planted in the 1930s by his grandfather. Consequently, he was unable to provide supplies to London’s New Covent Garden Market and Spitalfields Market. Mr. Coller stated, “I’m still cutting some holly, people are still making a lot of wreaths, but they can’t decorate the house with the red berries, which is an ancient tradition.” Hannah Deane, who conducts Christmas wreath-making classes at Dairy Barns, Hickling, has resorted to sourcing alternative materials. She explained, “We’re using a hypericum berry, which we’re wiring into the leaves to sit alongside the holly.” She added, “Or you can buy little red berries on wires, it’s… not the same as proper berries, but it gives you that Christmas feel.” Regarding the prospect of holly berries returning next year after this unproductive period, Mr. Flowerdew commented, “Of course, but this is gardening and in gardening, whatever you expect doesn’t always happen.”