Our range of Holly plants (Ilex aquifolium)

The plants we offer are grown in P9 pots a bit bigger than a small yogurt pot so the roots are slightly bigger but still are very easy to plant with the notch planting method. We source these plants from a leading grower and we deliver them along with our own bare root plants so all will come out to you together.

We do not grow bare root holly - it can be done but germination in open fields is very poor and we find the bare root growing method doesn't make very good plants so we'd rather not grow it ourselves or offer it to our customers.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium) Summary

One of the very few native evergreen hedging plants and a great addition to a mixed native hedgerow or oak, beech or mixed woodland to provide some very dense, prickly winter habitat for wildlife.  Unfortunately the very spiky nature of the leaves makes it difficult for hedge layers to cope with. For berrying, it is important to have several holly plants (or be close enough to other holly trees or shrubs) because there are male and female plants and pollination of the female plants is needed to produce berries.

Holly does not do well as a field grown (bare root) plant.  It is very difficult to germinate and needs controlled growing conditions (ie indoor) so we grow our own holly plants in an unheated glasshouse in 9cm pots (P9's).

Soil and Situation

A great attribute of Holly is that it will grow well in shade and hence is suitable as a woodland shrub as well as a hedging plant.  Any well drained soil is suitable with a preference for neutral, moist soil.  It does reasonably well at the coast.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

Holly leaves are small, very prickly, dark green and glossy.  New growth is particularly prickly but has adapted so that leaves are only prickly where they are within reach of browsing animals (although they can be used as cattle fodder in harsh winters) so those at the top of the hedge or tree are generally quite smooth edged.  Although evergreen, that does not mean that leaves do not fall off (just that it happens very gradually and there are always plenty of green leaves on the plant) and holly leaf litter is a very good nesting site for hedgehogs and small mammals.  Although suitable for cattle to eat, we do not recommend for horses.

Flowers are small, white, inconspicuous but after insect pollination develop into the bright red berries with which we are all familiar, and which can stay on the plant for many weeks.  Mistle thrushes are particularly fond of holly berries but they are an excellent food source for a wide range of birds.

Holly is a single sex plant so male and female plants must be grown reasonably close together to obtain the berries and if berried foliage is required for the Christmas trade, trees should be netted in autumn to prevent bird damage.

The bark is smooth and matures from dark green to grey green.

The wood is very hard, white in colour and fine grained so it is good for turning and inlaying.

Eventual Height & Growth rate

Mature trees can grow up to 15 metres in height, although Holly can easily be kept to hedgerow height. Holly is quite slow growing but can form quite large trees.