GrowingHQ
Tree or shrubtree ornamentalStraightforward

Holly

Ilex aquifolium

A native evergreen that will grow into a proper tree, takes clipping into a hedge, tolerates deep shade and salt wind, and carries berries only on female plants with a male nearby. Slow, long-lived, and one of very few evergreens that is genuinely good for wildlife.

Position
Full sun or Partial shade or Dappled shade or Full shade
Water
low demand
Drainage
Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Grows to
500–1500 cm × 300–600 cm
Hardiness
H6
Harvest
November to January
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

Prune

Coming next month: plant.

Holly’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PlantMarch. April. September. October.
In flowerMay. June.
HarvestJanuary. November. December.
PruneAugust. September.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun, Partial shade, Dappled shade, Full shade
Frost
Very hardy
Hardiness rating
H6 (RHS)
Grows best at
6–25 °C
Soil
Loam, Clay, Sandy, Chalky
Soil pH
5–7.5
Drainage
Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Water needs
low
Drought
good tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
good tolerance
Wind and exposure
good tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Ilex aquifolium — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

Takes coastal wind and deep shade equally well.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionHolly will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyPrefers this soilSandy suits Holly as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkalinePrefers this soilChalky and alkaline suits Holly as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Chalky soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Holly as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits Holly as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionHolly will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockPrefers this soilShallow over rock suits Holly as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionHolly will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
500–1500 cm
Mature spread
300–600 cm
Rooting depth
100 cm
Spacing
50–400 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Holly — spacing

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant hollyThree holly plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 50–400 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.50–400 cmone metre
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Foliage
Evergreen
In a container
Good in a container long-term
Where these figures come from
FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — foliage

Checked 2026-08-13

In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Growth rate
Slow — under about 30 cm a year
Ultimate height
500–1500 cm
Ultimate spread
300–600 cm
Time to reach it
30–50 yearsSourced guidance
Where these figures come from
Growth rateSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — growth rate

Checked 2026-08-13

Ultimate heightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — ultimate height

Checked 2026-08-13

Ultimate spreadSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — ultimate spread

Checked 2026-08-13

Time to reach itSourced guidancelow confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — time to ultimate size

Checked 2026-08-13

Cutting it back. Breaks from old bare wood, so an overgrown holly can be reduced from a tree back to a hedge. Slow, but it works — one of only a handful of evergreens where this is true.
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Value to wildlife

Recorded only where the evidence names a resource and the months it is available. Most plants flower; that on its own is not what this section is about.

Nectar
Useful, among other plants
Berries for birds
A significant source
In flower
May, Jun
In fruit
Nov, Dec, Jan
Where these figures come from
NectarSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — value to pollinators

Checked 2026-08-13

Berries for birdsSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex aquifolium — fruit and birds

Checked 2026-08-13

Shelter. Evergreen and spiny, giving nesting cover and winter shelter at the season when deciduous hedges are bare.
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

What keeping this costs

Berries come only on female plants with a male nearby, so half the hollies planted feed nothing — and the cultivar names actively mislead, since 'Golden King' is female and 'Silver Queen' is male. Cutting sprigs for Christmas takes food that birds usually leave until January, which is when they need it.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Open groundWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

A raised bed rarely holds enough soil volume for a tree beyond its first few years.

Growing it

  • PollinationBerries come only on female plants and only if a male flowered nearby. The cultivar names are actively misleading: 'Golden King' is female and 'Silver Queen' is male, which is the sort of trap that only becomes apparent four years later. Buy a plant already in berry, or check the sex explicitly.
  • PruningClip in late summer. Holly tolerates hard cutting back into old wood and regenerates, which makes it one of the few evergreens that can be reduced from an overgrown tree back to a hedge — slowly, but reliably.
Where this guidance comes from
PollinationSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex — pollination

Checked 2026-08-13

PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex — pruning

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogsUsually a short upset stomachListed at genus level

Listed as harmful to cats or dogs

Holly is listed as harmful if eaten. The berries contain saponins and methylxanthines. Eating a few causes drooling, vomiting and diarrhoea; the spiny leaves add mechanical injury to the mouth on top of it. Rarely serious in the quantities an animal manages, and the exposure route is seasonal — cut berried sprigs brought indoors in December.
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Ilex — toxic plants list

Checked 2026-08-13

Affected parts: berry, leaf.

  • ToxicitychildrenpetsThe berries cause vomiting and diarrhoea if eaten and are conspicuously attractive to small children at exactly the time of year they are brought indoors as decoration. The leaf spines are also genuinely sharp.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Ilex — toxicity

    Checked 2026-08-13

    Keep cut berried sprigs out of reach of small children, and clear fallen berries from where a toddler plays.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.