Ilex crenataJapanese Holly

Ilex crenata is the plant the trade reaches for when box is not an option. The leaves are small, glossy, dark green and crenate rather than spined, the branching is dense, and the response to clipping is fine enough for formal topiary, low hedging and cloud-pruned forms.

It is slow, which is what makes it hold a crisp line, and it is genuinely cold hardy. What it will not tolerate is alkaline soil, and that single requirement rules it out of large parts of the Gulf unless the growing medium is controlled.

Specifications

• Height1 to 3 metres, or clipped lower; dwarf selections stay under 1 metre
• Width1 to 2.5 metres
• Native toJapan, Korea, eastern China, Taiwan and Sakhalin
• FoliageSmall, glossy, dark green obovate leaves with crenate margins, densely held; evergreen
• Growth rateSlow

Conditions

• SoilRequires acidic, moist, free-draining soils; will not tolerate alkaline or saline ground
• LightFull sun to partial shade
• WaterModerate; needs regular irrigation and is not drought-tolerant
• ClimateThrives in temperate and warm temperate regions; performs poorly in hot arid conditions

Additional Features

• FlowersSmall white flowers in late spring, inconspicuous but worked by bees
• FruitSmall black berries on female plants through autumn and winter
• UsesFormal low hedging, topiary, cloud pruning, parterre and container specimens
• SpacingPlant 0.3 to 0.4 metres apart for a low hedge, 0.8 metres for informal massing
• Low MaintenanceHolds a clipped line well; two cuts a year is usually sufficient
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound; root problems follow poor drainage rather than pests
• Frost ToleranceReliably cold hardy well below freezing
• FormDense, fine-textured and even, which is why it takes formal clipping so well

Japanese Holly is the formal clipped evergreen for acidic, temperate and controlled-medium schemes.