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shrub

Holly

Ilex aquifolium

Native

Growing guidance

Horticultural figures below are practitioner estimates for planning, pending expert review. The botanical record further down is sourced and verifiable.

Current-climate suitability

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Future-climate resilience

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Sun

Sun or shade

Soil moisture

average, moisture-retentive

Heat tolerance

Up to about 36°C

Cold tolerance

Down to about -25°C

Waterlogging tolerance

3/5

Drought tolerance

3/5

Mature size

3–8 m tall, 3 m spread

Seasonal interest

Winter berry · Dark green

Maintenance

low

Wildlife supported

General wildlife value 5/5 (verified species relationships are shown only where structured data exists)

How to plant it

General steps for this plant. Save a garden and these become specific to your location, soil and light.

  1. Step 1When to plant

    Plant during November to March, whenever the ground is not frozen or waterlogged.

    Woody plants establish best planted while dormant, so roots grow before the first summer.

  2. Step 2Where to put it

    Choose sun or shade — this plant tolerates both. Allow 3 m of room around it — mature spread is 3 m and mature height 3–8 m.

    Light in your garden is not answered, so this is the plant's own requirement.

  3. Step 3Preparing the ground

    Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and no deeper, loosen the sides, and plant so the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding soil.

    Soil is not answered. This plant grows in average, moisture-retentive conditions.

  4. Step 4Watering while it establishes

    Water thoroughly at planting (10–15 litres), then only when the top few centimetres of soil are dry, through the first full growing season, and dry spells in the second.

    Even a drought-tolerant plant (3/5 here) only becomes drought-tolerant once established.

  5. Step 5Mulch

    Spread 5–7 cm of composted bark or garden compost around the plant, keeping it clear of the stem.

    Mulch cuts water loss and suppresses weeds through the first summer, when losses are most likely.

  6. Step 6The first year

    Check it after strong wind and in long dry spells. Little else is needed.

    Maintenance level on the plant record is low.

  7. Step 7What to watch for

    Invasive on the US west coast and in parts of Australia; berries toxic. Toxicity: mild. Site it accordingly if children or pets use the space.

    Taken from the plant record and your measured climate figures, not from a general description.

Spacing: about 3 m apart — roughly 1 plant for every 10 m² if planted as a group.

What this guide could not use

  • No location saved, so planting times are general rather than local.
  • Soil moisture is not answered, so soil preparation is general advice.
  • Light is not answered, so the position below is the plant's own preference.
  • Whether you can water is not answered, so watering assumes hand watering.
Answer five questions to make this specific

Built by fixed rules from: Plant record for Holly (last reviewed 2026-06-01). Planting guide version gf-planting-1.0.0. Timings and volumes are practitioner estimates for planning, not a substitute for local nursery advice.

Known risks or warnings

Invasive on the US west coast and in parts of Australia; berries toxic.

Toxicity: mild

Status and jurisdiction

Native in United Kingdom (Great Britain).

Register consulted: GBIF Backbone Taxonomy distributions for Great Britain

Record review status: reviewed · last reviewed 2026-06-01 · plant data version gf-plants-2026.09.18. Status claims are never inferred from climate similarity, and growing figures are estimates pending expert review.

Verified botanical record

Accepted scientific name
Ilex aquifolium L.
Family
Aquifoliaceae (Aquifoliales)
Rank and status
species · accepted
GBIF record
Taxon 5414222

Recorded native range: Belgium, Brussels-Capital Region, Flanders, Flemish Region, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Portugal Continental, Walloon Region

Recorded as introduced in: Arkansas, Belarus, Bogotá, D.C., British Columbia, California, Cyprus, Hawaii, Hungary, Lebanon-Syria, New Jersey, New South Wales, New Zealand North and 11 further regions

Ranges are exactly as recorded in the GBIF source checklists and may be incomplete for widely cultivated species.

Ilex aquifolium, the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called holly. It is an evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. In the British Isles it is one of very few native hardwood evergreen trees. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts. European holly can exceed 15 m in height, but is often found at much smaller heights, typically 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) tall and broad, with a straight trunk and pyramidal crown, branching from the base. It grows slowly and does not usually full

Description from Wikipedia — Ilex aquifolium (CC BY-SA), shortened and unedited in substance.

Native status and geographic context

  • United Kingdom: native
  • United States: restricted
  • Australia: restricted

Native status is never inferred from climate similarity. Plants restricted or invasive in a jurisdiction are excluded from recommendations there.

What to do next

Create a Garden Profile to see whether this plant suits your conditions.

Demonstration data

These figures come from the demonstration dataset kept for testing and as a fallback when the measured climate service is unavailable. They are representative, not observed, and are never presented as validated live data.