Pollination is important in the landscape when you are trying to grow plants with ornamental berries, either for your enjoyment or to feed the birds. It is also important when we are looking for plants that won't produce unwanted seed.

My experience has been that many shrubs and small trees will fruit without careful attention to pollination. As I see it, the real problems are with the hollies and viburnums. Both these groups can be quite picky about pollination and the berry set we are seeking.

Let's start with the hollies. There are several groups of hollies, including the native deciduous winterberries, an evergreen American holly, various varieties with parentage from eastern Asia as well as many recent hybrids of sharp leafed evergreen varieties. This group needs definite specific pollination.

There are also a number of evergreen small leaf hollies, which are grown more for their foliage than their berries. I generally don't get excited about pollination with these varieties.

The winterberries are Ilex verticillata. There are a number of winterberry varieties, which bloom over an extended period of time. The secret is to find a male pollinator that blooms at the same time. Each female variety should have its male friend identified.

In all honesty, my experience is that this one is relatively easy and the presence of a male in the neighborhood is sufficient. I have heard that distances up to one-fourth mile are adequate.

For the evergreen hollies, it gets rather specific. I'm sure you have heard names like China Girl and China Boy. Guess what? They must go together to produce fruit. Non-berry producing males can be planted in a low ratio with females. In a Longwood course I have heard numbers like one to nine.

Even trickier are the viburnums. Many claims have been made that pollination is not a significant issue. That's wrong if you want berries. The nurseries have generally done a poor job of advising their buyers about pollinating viburnums. You do not need a pollinator to enjoy the foliage or the bloom, just the berries.

One very popular viburnum is Viburnum nudam 'Winterthur'. This one is sold widely but is only in the last several weeks that I found an appropriate pollinator. It's another Viburnum nudam. With the viburnums you need two distinct members of the same viburnum species.

One more example. There is a popular selection of the native Viburnum dentatum called 'Blue Muffin'. This one can be pollinated by the native species Viburnum dentatum or another selection of Viburnum dentatum.

To be successful with the Viburnum pollination game it is important to read the Latin and plant two different selections or cultivars from the same family. With the hollies you need the appropriate male to match the desirable female.

When this started, I mentioned that maybe we did not want seeds. The ginkgo tree is a prime example. The fruit of the ginkgo, at best, smells like rotten fish. Select a male plant only. Do not plant a seedling of indeterminate sex. It takes 15 to 20 years to get fruit. Most of us do not have that kind of time to discover a mistake.

Another wonderful tree is the sweet gum. Its problem is that it produces a nasty jagged seed ball that is a nightmare in the yard. The good news is that there is selections or cultivars that are sterile or near sterile.

The common and popular butterfly bush is occasionally faulted as an invasive. Current research is aimed at producing a butterfly bush with sterile seed. The industry is not there yet but moving in that direction.

Pollination is necessary to get many berries in the landscape. Before you plant, insist on the information necessary to be successful.