We've got a gorgeous holly bush in the front garden and because it's right at the front of the house we have to keep it looking nice. It's a wide but quite short bush which looks like 3 individual ones all in a row.

The main thing with holly is that it grows quite quick so you have to prune it back. You can either do it a bit at a time but I reckon you're fighting a losing battle doing it that way, we cut ours right back twice a year and that's perfect because within a couple of weeks it's bushed back out but looks tidier.

The lady who lived in our house before us was a brilliant gardener and she knew what she was doing. She has planted these in the spot of the front garden that is the driest and the soil around the holly bush is loose and rich. I have looked on Wiki and it says holly flourishes best in well drained soil, but the traditional red berry holly that we've got is happy in most types of earth.

We get loads of berries on our holly bush and that attracts loads of birds into the garden, sometimes you see birds sneaking inside the holly but the leaves are so thick that I can't tell if there's a nest in there or not. It's due to be cut back soon so we'll find out then! lol

If you've got a well looked after holly bush you'll be able to use the shiny green leaves to make Xmas decorations. My mum is quite arty like that and makes nice wreaths out of the holly from the garden, she also wraps holly round thick candles and that looks cool.

I love the holly in our garden, it's so pretty all year round but with all the red berrie it looks wicked in the winter.