Overview

Transform your landscape with the enduring elegance of the Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant. This exceptional evergreen shrub, scientifically known as Ilex x ‘Nellie R. Stevens’, is celebrated for its rapid growth and distinctive pyramidal form, often likened to a classic Christmas tree. Originating from the garden of Nellie Robinson Stevens, this hybrid has become a beloved choice for gardeners seeking a resilient and visually appealing addition. The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant is a versatile specimen, perfect for creating privacy screens, hedges, or as a striking stand-alone feature. Its ability to maintain lush, dark green foliage throughout the year, coupled with its vibrant winter berries, ensures continuous interest and beauty in any outdoor setting.

This particular offering provides a healthy Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant, carefully nurtured and ready for planting in your garden. Whether you’re an experienced horticulturist or a budding enthusiast, this hardy shrub promises to deliver a captivating display and a touch of timeless charm. Its robust nature makes it an excellent candidate for various garden designs, offering both aesthetic appeal and ecological benefits by providing food and shelter for local wildlife.

Key Benefits

The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant offers a multitude of advantages for any garden, combining visual appeal with practical benefits. Its adaptability and hardiness make it a top choice for a wide range of landscapes.

• Year-Round Greenery: As a vigorous evergreen shrub for garden use, it maintains its lush, glossy, dark green foliage throughout all seasons, providing consistent color and structure even in winter months when other plants are dormant. This continuous greenery is crucial for maintaining an attractive landscape year-round.
• Festive Winter Berries: This holly produces an abundance of bright red berries that mature in fall and persist through winter. These berries not only add a festive touch to your yard but also serve as a vital food source for birds and other wildlife, enhancing your garden’s biodiversity.
• Fast Growth Rate: Known as a fast growing holly, the Nellie R. Stevens can quickly reach significant heights and widths, making it ideal for establishing privacy screens, hedges, or windbreaks in a relatively short period. This rapid development allows for quicker landscape impact.
• Distinctive Pyramidal Shape: Naturally forming a classic pyramidal or conical shape, reminiscent of a Christmas tree, this shrub requires minimal pruning to maintain its elegant form. This makes it an excellent focal point or a structured element in formal garden designs.
• Adaptable and Hardy: Thriving in USDA Zones 6-9, the Nellie R. Stevens care is relatively straightforward. It adapts well to various soil types and can tolerate both full sun and partial shade, demonstrating excellent resilience to different environmental conditions once established.
• Low Maintenance: Once established, this holly plant with red berries is exceptionally low maintenance. It is drought-tolerant and generally resistant to pests and diseases, requiring little intervention beyond occasional watering during dry spells and light pruning to shape if desired.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Proper care ensures your Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant thrives and provides years of beauty. This hardy evergreen is relatively forgiving, but understanding its basic needs will lead to the best results. The Nellie R. Stevens care is straightforward, making it suitable for both novice and experienced gardeners.

For sunlight, the Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant prefers full sun to partial shade. Full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day) will encourage the densest growth and the most abundant berry production. While it can tolerate partial shade, too much shade may lead to sparser foliage and fewer berries. When it comes to watering, ensure the soil remains consistently moist, especially during its establishment period (the first year after planting). Once established, it becomes quite drought-tolerant, but regular watering during prolonged dry spells will help maintain its vigor. Avoid overwatering, as soggy soil can lead to root rot. The ideal soil type is well-draining, slightly acidic soil. It can tolerate a range of soil conditions, including clay, sand, and loam, as long as drainage is adequate. Incorporating organic matter into the planting hole can improve soil structure and fertility.

This fast growing holly is hardy in USDA Zones 6-9. It can withstand winter temperatures down to -10°F (-23°C). In colder zones, some winter protection or planting in a sheltered location might be beneficial. Fertilize in early spring with a balanced, slow-release granular fertilizer formulated for evergreens. Follow the product instructions for application rates. Generally, this evergreen shrub for garden use is pest and disease resistant, but occasionally may encounter issues like scale insects or leaf spot. Good air circulation and proper watering practices can help prevent most problems. Pruning is best done in late winter or early spring before new growth begins. Light pruning can help maintain its desired shape, while more extensive pruning can be done to reduce size or rejuvenate an older plant.

Size & Details

The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant you receive will be shipped in a quart nursery pot, ensuring a healthy root system ready for transplanting. This particular specimen is a young, vigorous plant, poised for rapid growth in your garden. The species is renowned as a fast growing holly, typically adding 1-2 feet of height per year under optimal conditions. Mature plants can reach an impressive height of 15-25 feet and spread 10-15 feet wide, forming a dense, pyramidal canopy. Its consistent growth rate makes it an excellent choice for quickly establishing privacy hedges or substantial landscape elements.

The rich, dark green leaves are glossy and spiny, providing textural interest year-round. These leaves contrast beautifully with the bright red berries that appear in fall and persist through winter, offering a vibrant splash of color against the winter landscape. This holly plant with red berries is a female cultivar, meaning it will produce berries provided a male holly pollinator is nearby (even if not a ‘Nellie R. Stevens’, many common hollies can serve this purpose). The plant will arrive carefully packaged to ensure its health and vitality, ready to be planted upon arrival. Expect significant growth and berry production as the plant establishes itself over the coming seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant typically grows to a mature height of 15-25 feet tall and spreads 10-15 feet wide, forming a dense, pyramidal shape. Its impressive size makes it suitable for large hedges or as a stately specimen plant.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant is an outdoor plant, best suited for garden landscapes. It thrives in various outdoor conditions and is hardy in USDA Zones 6-9.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This fast growing holly prefers full sun to partial shade. For the best growth and most abundant berry production, aim for at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, the Nellie R. Stevens care is considered relatively easy. Once established, it is drought-tolerant and requires minimal maintenance beyond occasional watering during dry spells and light pruning for shaping.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant will arrive in a quart nursery pot, carefully packaged to ensure its health and vitality. During colder months, plants may arrive with minimal foliage due to dormancy, which is normal.
• Q: When is the best time to plant this holly? A: This evergreen shrub for garden use can be planted year-round, though spring and fall are generally considered ideal as they allow the plant to establish its root system before extreme temperatures.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: The Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant is hardy in USDA Zones 6-9, meaning it can tolerate winter temperatures down to -10°F (-23°C). If you are in zone 5 or lower, winter protection may be necessary.
• Q: Does this holly produce berries? A: Yes, the Nellie R. Stevens is a female cultivar and is known for producing abundant, bright red berries in fall and winter, especially if a male holly pollinator is present nearby. These berries are a key feature of this beautiful holly plant with red berries.
• Q: What kind of soil does it need? A: It prefers well-draining, slightly acidic soil but is adaptable to a range of soil types, including clay, sand, and loam, as long as good drainage is provided.
• Q: Can I use it for hedging? A: Absolutely! Due to its fast growth rate and dense, pyramidal form, the Nellie R. Stevens Holly live plant is an excellent choice for creating privacy screens, hedges, or windbreaks.