Helleri Japanese Holly
Ilex crenata ‘Helleri’ · a spreading Japanese holly
One of the oldest dwarf Japanese hollies, a low, dense mound of tiny dark green leaves for foundation edging and massing: a boxwood look that needs little shearing. It's prone to root rot in wet soil, so plant it in acid soil where water drains away.
- Mature size
- 3.5 × 5 ft
- 1.1 × 1.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5b–8a
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- May–Jun
Helleri Japanese Holly at its mature size
A mature Helleri Japanese Holly grows 2 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 8 feet wide.
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, pubs.ext.vt.edu, UF/IFAS Extension.
Through the year
What Helleri Japanese Holly looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Tiny dark green spineless leaves in a fine, boxwood-like texture, evergreen.
Growing Helleri Japanese Holly
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Hedge and foundation planting
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Japan and Korea
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Helleri Japanese Holly, that’s about 5 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 Helleri Japanese Holly in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hollies
Soft Touch Japanese HollyHelleri Japanese Holly
Dwarf Yaupon Holly
Shamrock InkberryAll drawn to the same scale.