DescriptionPlanting InstructionsAfter CareDelivery & Guarantee
Holly Oak / Holm Oak Hedge Plants - Delivered by Mail Order from the Nursery with a 1 Year Guarantee
Holm Oak, Quercus ilex, also known as Holly Oak, is a big, vigorous, broadleaf evergreen tree that is a fine formal hedging plant, especially on the coast, where it makes a good windbreak. It is suitable for dry, sandy or chalky soils and exposed locations. Grown as a tree, it develops a dense, broad round canopy that casts full shade.
Holm Oak is good for tall hedges. It will reach 20-25 metres if it grows freely as a tree.
Browse all of our other varieties of Oak here.
Holm Oak hedge plants are only delivered pot-grown, year round.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots & pots aren't measured).
Spacing a Holm Oak hedge:
Plant Holm Oak hedging at 2 plants per metre, 50cms apart.
General description of Holm Oak plants:
Common names: Holm Oak, Holly Oak
This lush evergreen tree will grow in any well drained soil and is equally happy growing right to the sea or in the middle of a city. The dark-green mature leaves look a little like young holly leaves, although they are grey on the undersides. In spring, the young leaves are silvery-grey all over and this display is followed by golden brown catkins in early summer. It is a hardy tree, but it tends to drop its leaves in harsh winters in the North and Scotland. This is normal and doesn't damage the tree, although it may not come back into leaf until mid-summer. For this reason, we like to recommend Portugal Laurel instead for colder regions. Holm oak is quite fast growing in sunny locations and shade tolerant.
Holm Oak hedges make a good subject for topiary.
History & uses of Quercus ilex
Holm Oak is a Mediterranean tree and its range also extends eastwards as far as Pakistan. It has been introduced to Northern Europe since the 1500's and it is naturalised in parts of Ireland's & England's Southern coasts. Holm oak timber is very hard and strong; in the past it was prized for heavy duty uses like carts and roof beams.
Growing Holm Oak plants:
Holm Oak will grow well in any well drained soil. It is excellent on windy coastal sites with sandy or chalky soil. It is shade tolerant, but it will grow pretty slowly with less than half a day of full sun. If you are planting in an exposed area in the North or Scotland, Portugal Laurel hedging is a better choice. Holm Oaks is resistant to air pollution.
Holm Oak will not grow on wet soils.
Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and a glyphosate based weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.
Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.
Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.
After you have planted your Holm Oak hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.
Like all evergreen plants, Holm Oak is active and needs moisture in the ground throughout the year. This means that your establishing plants need to be watered in the winter when they are planted, if the weather is dry.
Trimming Formal hedge plants: Holm Oak doesn't need any clipping at all in its first year. In the winter of the following year, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly and every winter after that until it is mature.
When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime. A good time to clip Holm Oak hedges is in winter.
Special notes on caring for Holm Oak hedges:
Holm Oak is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.
Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.
