Q: A few weekends ago I hiked five miles to the Len Foote Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls. Along the trail I noticed lots of American holly trees were losing their leaves.

A: Despite being thought of as evergreen, American holly is semi-evergreen. It drops its older leaves occasionally to make room for new foliage. Usually new green leaves are seen at branch tips. You’ll see the same thing on magnolia and gardenia plants each spring.