Steeds Japanese Holly
Ilex crenata ‘Steeds’ · an upright Japanese holly
An upright, pyramidal Japanese holly with small, glossy, boxwood-like leaves, for foundation corners, hedges and formal accents where a rounded holly would sprawl, and it takes hard pruning. Watch for spider mites on hot, dry sites, and plant it in soil that drains well.
- Mature size
- 7 × 4 ft
- 2.1 × 1.2 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- May–Jun
Steeds Japanese Holly at its mature size
A mature Steeds Japanese Holly grows 5 to 8 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: saundersbrothers.com, bowerandbranch.com, shop.mahoneysgarden.com.
Through the year
What Steeds Japanese Holly looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Small, glossy dark green spineless leaves on stiffly upright stems, evergreen.
Growing Steeds Japanese Holly
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, small space, foundation planting, and specimen
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Japan and Korea
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Steeds Japanese 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 Steeds Japanese Holly in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hollies
Steeds Japanese Holly
Castle Wall Holly
Inkberry Holly
Sky Pencil HollyAll drawn to the same scale.