Alex our Head Gardener recently had the pleasure of showing his cousins Anthony and Sarah Wingfield, the 11th Viscount and Viscountess Powerscourt, around the Gardens on their first visit since Anthony inherited the title. Anthony has always had a particular interest in the many wonderful specimen trees at Powerscourt and Alex drew his attention to one of his favourites. Visitors often comment on what seems like a giant, weeping Holly tree and that is essentially what Ilex aquifolium ‘Pendula’ is! The sheer size of our tree is most unusual and Alex thinks it must be at least one hundred and sixty years old. It is a regular holly root stock grafted onto a Weeping Holly and you can still see the graft line.
Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. For example this technique is used to produce much shorter versions of fruit trees which are consequently easier to harvest. In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion.
The Holly tree is indelibly linked with Christmas, its scarlet berries and evergreen leaves particularly important in previous decades when most people made their own decorations or used greenery from the fields around their homes. Its name is derived from ‘Holy’ tree and this is because it was associated with Christ’s suffering, the berries representing his blood and the spiky leaves his crown of thorns. The branches were said to ward off evil from the home. As with so many Christian traditions this belief was carried over from Pre-Christian times. The Romans (and the English and Scottish) planted Holly near their homes to repel lightening, poison and witches and there is some scientific evidence that the spines on Holly leaves can act as miniature lightening conductors (though no proof yet that they repel witches!).
In Irish folklore Holly was one of the gentle or noble trees (crann uasal) and you would annoy the fairies to use it for something domestic such as chimney sweeping. In Irish mythology there are several references to heroes such as Cuchulainn using Holly wood to make chariot shafts and wheels and for spears and darts (when sharpened, charred and pointed by fire). The density of Holly wood is probably why the Holly is associated with the Ogham letter Tinne which means ‘iron bar’. Beautiful as Holly looks adorning our homes please remember that the Holly berries are an important source of food in winter time for wildlife!
Posted by Brenda Comerford
