Pruning holly re Holly Blue life cycle

[Airehead]

Does anyone know enough about the life cycle of the holly blue to advise me -

every year I see a few holly blues in my garden.
I have a holly hedge which I have been pruning every 2 years in summer. There is a tall one at the end which does not always get a full pruning and there are flowers followed by berries somewhere along the line every year, but I do cut most of the flowers off.

Is there a realistic pruning cycle which I can follow to avoid reducing the butterflies' chances?

[Paul mabbott]

Don't worry. Holly is in continuous growth for most of the year so there's no problem of leaf shortage. Flowers/berries are not, I think, relevant.
My general advice for pruning any shrub/tree/hedge is to do it late in August (most invertebrates will, by then, have matured/moved/died) and to leave the trimmings nearby for a couple of weeks. Never burn the trimmings but put them in a compost heap or a woodpile! This isn't specific for the Holly Blue but applies to all invertebrates.
Cheers, Paul

Originally Posted by Airehead

Does anyone know enough about the life cycle of the holly blue to advise me -
every year I see a few holly blues in my garden.
I have a holly hedge which I have been pruning every 2 years in summer. There is a tall one at the end which does not always get a full pruning and there are flowers followed by berries somewhere along the line every year, but I do cut most of the flowers off.
Is there a realistic pruning cycle which I can follow to avoid reducing the butterflies' chances?

[Airehead]

Thanks Paul.
It is my understanding that the spring larva eat holly flower buds but what they do after that I don't know. I normally prune late summer so probably ok

[henrya]

Holly Blues overwinter as a pupa, so they'll probably be in or around the Ivy. Summer pruning your Holly is therefore all probably right as long as you leave some flowers, though I have Holly Blues in my garden and I have no idea where the nearest Holly is. But the caterpillars will also feed on other species.

henrya