YOUR GARDEN GUY: Try 'Sparkleberry' holly in your winter landscape

Try "Sparkleberry" holly this winter. This deciduous (looses its leaves in winter) holly produces a show-stopping abundance of red berries and grows to about 12 feet. This is a female holly, so you will need to also buy "Apollo" holly, which is a male, for pollination. Plant "Sparkleberry" in groups of three to five shrubs for the best show. Use one male plant for about every five female plants.

Use cuttings of holly, boxwood, magnolia, pittosporum, acuba, ivey, fern, yew, arborvitae and other evergreens for quick holiday decorating. Use silver, gold and red spray paint on leaves to add color to holiday decorations all around your home.

Use water-absorbing floral foam in containers to extend the life of greenery and flowers used for centerpiece decorations.

Gold, antique gold and bright gold are all back in a big way as color options for your holiday decorations.

Buy Christmas cactus (zygocactus) now. Buy plants that are just beginning to bloom. Place plants in bright, indirect light and water when the soil is dry to the touch. These plants will re-bloom next year at the same time. Easy!

Plant amaryllis, "Paper White" narcissus, tulips and hyacinths indoors now for blooms in the dreary month of February.

What's blooming in late December? Daphne odora. This evergreen, small shrub prefers shade and well-drained soil. It's beautiful and fragrant.

Don't forget to water landscape shrubs every two weeks in the absence of rain.

Pansies looking puny? Give them a good soaking of liquid fertilizer at the recommended dose.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you!

Todd Goulding provides residential landscape design consultations. Contact him at www.fernvalley.com or 478-345-0719.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "YOUR GARDEN GUY: Try 'Sparkleberry' holly in your winter landscape ."