A well known british native particularly for its red berries at christmas holly is a prickly evergreen shrub which makes a fine evergreen hedge the dark green glossy leaves provide a lovely foil for lighter coloured shrubs and perennials and its tolerance to clipping makes it a good choice for formal hedges ilex aquifolium is slow growing so needs less maintenance than other shrubs and the spiny leaves are an excellent deterrent to intruders a strong alternative to yew holly can be grown