Question: Which of the hollies don’t have spines? I don’t want a stickery plant around my house, but I know that they’re great shrubs and small trees.

Answer: Yaupon hollies and all of its selections (dwarf, weeping, Will Fleming and others) and possumhaw hollies have no spines at all. Some that do have spines aren’t especially piercing, including willowleaf (needlepoint), burford, dwarf burford, Nellie R. Stevens, East Palatka, Savannah, Wilson’s, Mary Nell and Fosters. The most prickly types that you might want to avoid include Chinese and dwarf Chinese and Carissa. However, if you use these in the backs of your beds, they needn’t be a problem. They’re all among our most useful landscaping plants.