Does Holm oak make an attractive shrub?
 

Yesterday my brother came to visit. He brought with him a young holm
oak (Quercus ilex) which had been grown by one of his friends. It's a
perfectly nice young tree and about 2 feet high.

My garden is not a pocket handkerchief but it's not exactly rolling
parkland either. According to my RHS plant encyclopedia, holm oak
grows to a height of around 80 feet and has a spread of 70 feet. A
tree of this size would be completely out of place in my garden.

I don't want to offend my brother by throwing the tree away or giving
it to someone else. I gather it is possible to keep holm oak trimmed
as a shrub. Would it make an attractive shrub of, say, four or five
feet in height? Or would it be better if the plant just died a
convenient death?

My brother normally visits only once a year, so a white (or even dark
greyish) lie wouldn't be too hard, but I'd rather make use of the
plant if possible.

Does Holm oak make an attractive shrub?
 

Yesterday my brother came to visit. He brought with him a young holm
oak (Quercus ilex) which had been grown by one of his friends. It's a
perfectly nice young tree and about 2 feet high.

My garden is not a pocket handkerchief but it's not exactly rolling
parkland either. According to my RHS plant encyclopedia, holm oak
grows to a height of around 80 feet and has a spread of 70 feet. A
tree of this size would be completely out of place in my garden.

I don't want to offend my brother by throwing the tree away or giving
it to someone else. I gather it is possible to keep holm oak trimmed
as a shrub. Would it make an attractive shrub of, say, four or five
feet in height? Or would it be better if the plant just died a
convenient death?

My brother normally visits only once a year, so a white (or even dark
greyish) lie wouldn't be too hard, but I'd rather make use of the
plant if possible.

Holm Oak can be left to grow and as you say grow to 80 feet, we have a row
of 107 (I think that's the number) with Tree Preservation Orders on them
down the side of a public path. As a continuation, there is the boundary of
a house, still at the side of a path, where the owners have trimmed it to
about 7/8 feet. When the TPO Officer came to visit us, she remarked that the
pure Holm Oak hedge, of about 40 metres long, is one of the best she has
seen.

So your answer is yes, do what you like with it.

BTW, the spread of it starts quite low down and the overhang will reach the
ground. The public path mentioned above was a dark and dismal tunnel and
many of the older fraternity did not like going down it. We have now had
them trimmed.

And if you are about when it is trimmed from any great height, the wood is
superb for wood turning and I had the local Wood Turning Club come and
collect some :-))

Mike