There are several varieties of holly.....I have no idea what you maen by "Christmas Holly".
The leaves of holly have stickers on them, so I would keep them away from the walk and steps...but holly is a great landscaping plant. It's evergreen and stays attractive all year.
Holly comes in both make and female and it's the female plants that have the berrys and you have to have a male plant to supply the pollen.
Perhaps you don';t have a male plant near enough for your holly to have lots of berrys, or perhaps they need pruning.
Linda C

The traditional Christmas holly is Ilex aquifolium or English holly. This is not exactly what I'd call a shrub, as it has the potential for being a 20+ foot tree. In my area they have the ability to be an invasive species, with the birds freely seeding them around.

Not all hollies are created equal. Some are indeed smaller growing shrubs, not all are evergreen and not all have sharply spined leaves. "Christmas" or English holly is not one I'd recommend planting close to an entry - it is not a people-friendly plant, as its leaves are quite sharp and it generally grows to a significant and dense size and can be very obscuring to light as well as intimdating to visitors if planted close to access paths, etc.

I'd take a sample to your local nursery or extension office for accurate ID and you can proceed on that basis. Generally most species of holly are rather carefree and disease and pest resistant, requiring only well draining soil and a fair amount of sun.

I agree that Angel 35 is 'probably' thinking of English Holly, though I would say that 20 feet is a VERY conservative estimate of the size at maturity! She might be talking about an American cultivar, 'Merry Christmas', however. Neither are one of the hollies that would take kindly to being an entry plant, let alone a shrub for 'under the windows'!

Angel 35, attached is an image of the English Holly to help you identify the plant you might be interested in. I think we would like to suggest that you find a smaller growing holly, perhaps one native to North America, for your selection. A GOOD locally owned nursery or garden center (emphasis on the locally owned) will guide you in your selection and assist you in purchasing the right male to go along with your female berry producers.

The problem with the two hollies that you already own might be that there are no males nearby. A male American Holly will happily donate pollen to an English Holly, as long as the bees are willing! There are many good male cultivars, and a good nursery can help you out.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1062382}}

Thank you all for the info. I will look into talking to a local nursery. Where I got the name of the holly from is www.directgardening.com . They call it a Christmas Holly?

Have a Great Day :-)

Ohhhhh! I've never heard of China Boy and Girl being called Christmas Holly, but that's the problem with common names! I wouldn't want the task of keeping these plants 'under the window' size, but I suspect that it's done fairly often.