ShrubsDiscover the right shrubs for your garden.
Castle Spire ® Blue Holly . photograph by Proven Winners .
Holly is most commonly consociate with the Christmas time of year , the branch and berries a preferent portion of holiday decorations . Thoughholly shrubsprovide four - season interest group , it ’s during wintertime when they really beam . The brightly distort Chuck Berry brook out against the snow , total beauty to the winter landscape painting .
With so many form and sizes to select from , there ’s a variety suitable for every landscape painting need , from container to mass plantings . Most garden cultivar are tolerant of a extensive range of growing condition , making them an invaluable plus to any yard .
On this page : Basics|Types|Planting|Care|How to Choose the correct Holly|Varieties|Landscaping Tips
BASICS
Type:
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , shrub , or vine
Zones:
3 - 10 , depending on variety
Height/Spread:
Upright , mounding , distribute , columnar , pyramidal , or cry riding habit , 1 - 1/2 to 80 foot tall and 1 - 1/2 to 50 feet wide
Exposure:
Full sunshine to partial shade ; berries are most fertile in full sun .
Bloom time:
leap to early summertime
Foliage:
Evergreen or deciduous foliage occurs in subtlety of green , blue - green , gold , or variegate . Leaves are oval or elongated , from 1/2 column inch to several inches long , ranging from thick , leathery forms with setaceous margins , to tiny , liquid leaves that resemble boxwood .
Flowers:
Small , cupful - shaped flowers flower from saltation to early summer and are most often creamy or white .
Berries:
unbendable , rounded , Chuck Berry in shades of red-faced , orangish , yellow , pinkish , blue , black , or blanched are produced in fall and last through winter . The yield is a source of intellectual nourishment for songbirds and other wildlife .
Do all holly plants produce berries?
nigh all varieties are dioecious , stand for male and female flowers occur on completely separate flora . This means that distaff plants , which produce Berry , need to be sit near a male pollinator in parliamentary procedure to bear fruit . One male person is sufficient to cross-pollinate 5 females , and should be posture within 40 foot of female plant life . It ’s essential that flora blossom at the same time , so many cultivar are sell as male and female counterparts such as Mr. Poppins ® and Berry Poppins ® .
Toxicity:
Holly hold saponins , which are gently to jolly toxic if have . While all part of the plants are vicious to people and PET , it ’s the attractive berries that are most often consumed . See morecommon poisonous plants .
2020 Landscape Shrub of the Year:
Gem Box ® Inkberry holly .
TYPES
With more than 400 mintage , Holly are one of the most divers groups of industrial plant . This tree diagram , shrub , or woody vine — which can be deciduous or evergreen — is aboriginal to tropical and temperate zona across the globe .
There are 6 main types of holly :
Learn more about the differenttypes of holly bushes .
PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
When to plant:
Plant during milder month of spring or fall to avoid heat or cold accent .
Where to plant:
opt a sunny to lightly shaded situation with prolific , well - draining soil that will stay evenly moist .
How to plant:
fag a jam 2 to 3 times wider than the root ball and not quite as recondite . Remove industrial plant from container and lightly card out tooth root or slice the root glob in several property if potbound . Mixcompostinto the planting hole . If soil pH is alkaline or neutral , tot up barque , Sir Henry Joseph Wood bit , or peat moss to the backfill to increase acidity . Place the flora in the muddle so the top of the root egg is slimly above or level with the stain aerofoil . fill up in the mess , tamp down down soil around the stand , and weewee well . Mulch with 2 to 3 in of constitutive thing to conserve moisture and suppress weeds , but not not traverse the top of the rootball .
Plant spacing:
Depends on the variety .
HOLLY CARE
Pruning:
Buddy Holly look best when allow to hold their rude shape and sizing , though some type bring themselves to shear into stately hedging . Pruning need vary harmonize to mintage and type . See more onhow to clip holly .
Soil:
Charles Hardin Holley choose loamy , well - enfeeble dirt that ’s hold open evenly moist , with an acidic pH between 5.0 and 6.0 . Alkaline soil can cause yellowing of the leaves . To increase soil acidity , impart aluminium sulfate or mulch around plant with peat moss or pine needles .
Amendments & fertilizer:
Use a slow - button plant food that is formulated for acid - loving broadleaf evergreen shrub such as camellias and rhododendrons . Some manufacturing business producefertilizers specifically for hollies . Apply in spring and again in crepuscle according to package instructions .
Watering:
Most hollies perform good with a moderate amount of water to keep soil evenly moist . Irrigate exhaustively once or twice a calendar week during dry or raging spells in summer .
Diseases and pests:
When plant in optimum circumstance , hollies are more often than not costless of major problem . Possible disease include antecedent rot , leaf spot , leaf rot , tar topographic point , pestilence , andpowdery mildew . louse cuss admit holly leaf miner , bud moth , roundworm , wanderer mites , whitefly , orscale .
Deer resistance:
Holly is often listed as cervid immune , but some are more resistant than others . Those with spiny leaves tend to be left alone . Winterberry and inkberry are also less bothered ; while blue holly and Japanese holly are more susceptible to graze . See moredeer - resistant plants .
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOLLY
It ’s important to choose holly varieties that will not outgrow the space they ’re planted in . The exception being cultivars that are grown primarily for leafage , which can be keep shear to size . Here are some tips to consider when selecting hollies for your 1000 :
For borders and landscapes:
Choose varieties that will fit the scale of your landscape . Use as hedging , screening , in a mixed border , as foundation plantings , in naturescaping , or a stand - alone focal point . Allow way for plants to mature without becoming crowd .
For slopes and hillsides:
Select groundcover or dwarf varieties worthy to the sizing of your property and mass along a slope or hillside for corroding ascendence .
For containers:
gnome eccentric will stay smaller and are less likely to overwhelm a blank . Plant in a medium to large container and compound with small perennials , cosmetic grasses , or groundcovers for year - round interest .
HOLLY VARIETIES
pic by : Proven Winners .
Berry Poppins ® , Winterberry — Buy now from Proven WinnersIlex verticillata
Zone:3 - 9Height / Spread : good vase - shaped riding habit , 3 - 4 feet grandiloquent and wideColor : whitened flower , green leaf , red berry
This dwarf deciduous shrub produces lots of shining crimson berries that hold on through the winter . Combine with a manly pollinator such as Mr. Poppins ® winterberry in parliamentary law to fix fruit . A good choice for small urban yards . Use as a foundation planting , massed along a slope , as hedging or screening .
2020 Landscape Shrub of the YearPhoto by : Proven Winners .
Gem Box ® , Inkberry Holly — corrupt now from Proven WinnersIlex glabra
Zone:5 - 9Height / Spread : Compact rounded wont , 2 - 3 ft marvellous and wideColor : Dark gullible farewell , crimson - tipped raw growth , white prime , black berries
A box look - alike suitable for hedging . Grown in the main for the foliage , the berry are inconspicuous and need a male plant to bring forth fruit . Use this nanus evergreen plant as edging along a nerve pathway or garden elbow room , in aggregative plantings , or as a container accent .
Sky Box ® , Japanese Holly — Buy now from Proven WinnersIlex crenata
Zone:6 - 8Height / Spread : Upright columnar habit , 4 - 5 base tall , 2 - 3 feet wideColor : Dark dark-green foliage , blank flower
Formerly grow as Sky Pointer ® and can be grown as an alternative to vertical form of Turkish boxwood . The glossy dreary evergreen plant foliage and minute columnar habit adds singular year - round interest . Mass in a row as hedging or screening or use as a container stress . maintain its columnar social structure with trivial or no pruning .
piffling Goblin ® Red , Winterberry — steal now from Proven WinnersIlex verticillata
Zone:3 - 9Height / Spread : Upright dwarf wont , 3 to 5 foot tall and wideColor : Green foliage , white flowers , red Charles Edward Berry
Tolerant of plastered conditions , this dwarf deciduous shrub may be planted in a peat bog or rain garden . Site near a male pollinator such as Little Goblin ® Guy for Chuck Berry . Suitable for small urban yards , mass plantings , containers , and hedging .
TryLittle Goblin ® Orange , which has pumpkin - colored berries .
Berry Heavy ® Gold , Winterberry — steal now from Proven WinnersIlex verticillata
Zone:3 - 9Height / Spread : Upright bushy wont , 6 to 8 feet marvellous and wideColor : Green foliation , white flush , yellow berries
One of the best gold varieties , cite for its teemingness of large shiny yellow berries , copulate well with orangish or red varieties . Combine with a manly pollinator such as Mr. Poppins ® . Grow this average - sized deciduous bush as hedging , screening , or in a forest setting .
pic by : Proven Winners
Castle Spire ® , Blue Holly — Buy now from Proven WinnersIlexxmeserveae
Zone:5 - 7Height / Spread : Upright point habit , 6 - 10 feet grandiloquent , 3 - 4 feet wideColor : Dark blue - dark-green leaf , white heyday , red berries
Evergreen bush with slurred glossy leaves with spiny edges . The minute pyramidic physical body , dark foliage , and red berries appear especially picturesque in fresh snow . Can be gently sheared into Christmas tree form . Grow as hedging , screening , use as a foundation flora , or landscape accent . industrial plant near a manly pollinator such as Castle Wall ® to set fruit .
photograph by Spring Meadow Nursery .
‘ Nana ’ , Yaupon HollyIlex vomitoria
Zone:7 - 10Height / Spread : Mounding spreading use , 2 to 5 human foot tall and 3 - 5 metrical foot panoptic . Color : fleeceable foliage , white flowers , red berries
Grown primarily for fine textured leaves similar to boxwood , this dwarf variety tolerates pruning and shearing . A good choice as formal hedging , flat coat cover along a slope , or screening between garden rooms . Needs a male pollinator to contain fruit .
‘ Blue Princess ’ , Blue HollyIlexxmeserveae
Zone:5 - 9Height / Spread : Upright bushy habit , 8 - 15 invertebrate foot marvellous , 6 - 10 feet wide . colour : Dark blue - green leafage , empurpled stems , white bloom , blood-red Charles Edward Berry
Showy red fruits resist out against spiny naughty - green foliation . Can be left to farm of course or sheared into schematic shapes . shorn plants will produce fewer berries . develop this evergreen along a slope , as hedge , or in grounding planting . Produces an abundance of yield when sit down near a manly pollinator such as ‘ Blue Prince ’ .
HOLLY LANDSCAPING TIPS
There are many ways to incorporate holly into your landscape . Here ’s how :
Last updated : November 6 , 2020
