Holly Hedging

HOLLY HEDGING (ILEX AQUIFOLIUM)

Holly Hedging – Ilex Aquifolium – Holly makes a good thick evergreen hedge. It requires little maintenance and acts as a good deterrent because of its prickly leaves. It may also be used in a mixed hedge. Holly Hedging has small white fragrant flowers in spring and red berries in winter if left untrimmed.

Hyland’s Nursery Price List – Holly Hedging

Ways You Can Buy Holly Hedging from Hylands Nursery

There are two different ways you can buy our Holly

Pots or containers:

Holly in pots can be planted all year round and can be any size, from a plant in a 9cm pot to a plant in a very large tub. Their root is settled into the pot and the plant has been actively growing in the pot thus it is well established.  A plant in a pot can be sown all year round.  As it is established in the pot, there is little disturbance to the plant when planted into the ground so it is more likely to grow.  It is seldom that a plant in a pot fails unless the watering conditions haven’t been correct. It will need to be watered in well when initially planted. If planted during a hot time or in the summer, it may need to be watered a few times a week until they get established in the ground.

Root balled:

Root balled plants are larger plants that come in a root wrap of hessian. You leave this hessian on when planting.  You only plant these plants when the plant is dormant or has stopped growing for the winter.  They are planted from October/November to April/May depending on what the season is like i.e. if the spring is early or not, or if the autumn is very dry.

We don’t sell Holly bare rooted at the moment as we feel they are better coming from a pot or root wrapped as there more likely to grow into a stronger plant and less chance of the plant dying.

Planting Tips – Holly Hedging

Distance apart:

Smaller plants should be planted at a distance of 30cm apart in a single row.  Larger plants won’t need to be planted as close, but how close will depend on how soon you want your Holly Hedge to look full.

Preparation before planting

The ground should be clean and free from weeds and grass.  This gives the new plants a good chance to get established.  If the area you are going to plant them in has grass or weeds, the ground should be sprayed off a week or so before planting to avoid any competition. To help prevent too many weeds appearing after you have planted your hedge, I find it a good idea to put your grass clippings or mulch around the plants as this smothers out the weeds and helps prevent the plants drying out.

Depth

The plants should be planted deep enough to cover the roots. They do not like to be planted too deep as this may kill them or stunt their growth.

Holly Hedging doesn’t like to be lying in water so if the area you want to plant them in is wet, you may need to consider draining the ground or making a mound/ditch of top soil on top of the ground and plant them into this.

Holly Hedging can grow well in full sun and in shade.

Aftercare

Once the Holly Hedge is established you can trim it once a year.  Mid to late summer is a good time to give it a trim.  It shouldn’t be trimmed if the weather is really hot and dry.  You can give your hedge a feed of any high nitrogen feed (eg. in the nursery we use 18-6-12) or poultry manure pellets in late spring/early summer.

General problems with Holly Hedges

Rabbit and Hare damage:

You may find that your holly plant is bare at the bottom this is generally rabbit damage as they love to eat the young hedging plants.  Unfortunately the only solution we find to this is to rabbit fence, which is expensive initially but if not done can cause a lot of expense from having to replace plants and a lot of annoyance to yourself.

If the plant has been bitten cleanly off almost like a cut, this is damage by a hare.

Hunger:

If your leaves are turning yellow it may be hungry and your Holly Hedging may need a granule or liquid feed with high nitrogen or some poultry manure pellets.

Too much water (waterlogged):

If you have a more established hedge and it starts turning yellow, the ground may be waterlogged.  Holly Hedges do not like sitting in water for a long period of time.

If you have any questions about Holly Hedges, reach out to us by phone +353 87 277 3492 or email for answers.