Castle Spire Holly
Ilex x meserveae ‘Hachfee’ · an upright blue holly with red berries
A narrow, upright blue holly with glossy, spiny leaves and red winter berries, made for tight foundation corners, slim hedges and accents where a broad holly won't fit. Plant a male such as Castle Wall nearby for berries, and avoid pruning it, which costs flowers and fruit. Give it acid, well-drained soil.
- Mature size
- 8 × 4 ft
- 2.4 × 1.2 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–7b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Apr–May
Castle Spire Holly at its mature size
A mature Castle Spire Holly grows 5 to 10 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Proven Winners, rhs.org.uk.
Through the year
What Castle Spire Holly looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Small, glossy, spiny dark bluish-green leaves, no berries.
Growing Castle Spire Holly
- Grows well in
- The Northeast and the Midwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, small space, foundation planting, specimen, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Europe and Japan
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Castle Spire Holly, that’s about 4 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Castle Spire Holly in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hollies
Inkberry Holly
Sky Pencil HollyCastle Spire Holly
Winterberry HollyAll drawn to the same scale.