"Holly" trees south of Olympia, Washington

[Doug Herzberg]

I'm on a tractor group and saw a post "How can I push over a row of 20', 15" diameter Holly trees." The guy is south of Olympia Washington and just posted them on Craigslist if anyone is interested. Do people up there mean something else when they talk about Holly groves, or is it the stuff we like because it's so white and clear? I always thought of them more like bushes. Posting from ignorance.

[Peter Blair]

I was lucky to get some large Holly here in BC the base of the trunk was about 28". I waxed the pieces and stored them out of the sun but they all split. I was till able to get some smaller pieces that I use for finials and just about anything smaller. I love to turn Holly.

[John K Jordan]

I'm on a tractor group and saw a post "How can I push over a row of 20', 15" diameter Holly trees." The guy is south of Olympia Washington and just posted them on Craigslist if anyone is interested. Do people up there mean something else when they talk about Holly groves, or is it the stuff we like because it's so white and clear? I always thought of them more like bushes. Posting from ignorance.

Holly, especially growing in the woods with lots of competition, tends to have small diameter trunks even when growing tall, at least around here. I have 100s off hollys here on the farm and the largest i’ve found here is maybe 30’ tall but the trunk is less than 12”. Out in direct sun, such as in a yard, it can get bigger. Long ago a friend gave me short holly logs from several urban yard trees that must have been, IIRC, over 20” in diameter, the largest I’ve seen. (They were covered in a lattice of English Ivy which apparently is not uncommon. I got some great turning blanks from those, all dry now. He said some chunks were close to 28”.

The big problem with harvesting holly is of done in warm weather an ugly grey stain will almost always replace the beautiful white we want. My opinion and experience: best time to harvest is in the dead of winter, freezing outside if possible. Keep in log form, off the ground, cut into boards and turning blanks asap, seal well, and according to Dr Wengert, dry aggressively. White holly is like gold if you can keep it white.

That said. holly is holly AFAIK but I’m not familiar with regional terminology. To me the proof of species is in the distinctive prickly, evergreen waxy leaves.

JKJ

[Mel Fulks]

There are different cultivars, Nelly Stevens is the fastest growing. They say holly is the whitest wood.

[Reed Gray]

We grow a lot of it out here in the NW. Had some in my yard, but took them out because they drop leaves all year long and you don't want to step on them bare footed.... I did get one to turn once that was supposed to be 100 years old. No white wood in it, but lots of greens and some grey running through it. Beautiful. Most do use it for finials. Given the texture, I would think that you may be able to hand chase threads in it, but don't know for sure.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

We grow a lot of it out here in the NW. Had some in my yard, but took them out because they drop leaves all year long and you don't want to step on them bare footed.... I did get one to turn once that was supposed to be 100 years old. No white wood in it, but lots of greens and some grey running through it. Beautiful. Most do use it for finials. Given the texture, I would think that you may be able to hand chase threads in it, but don't know for sure.

robo hippy

I use it a lot for thin spindles, wands and finials. It will take threads nicely but they are not as strong as in some other species (I like dogwood, blackwood, etc for threading.) Carves nicely.

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JKJ