Ilex crenataJapanese holly
An evergreen shrub or small tree with small, oval, glossy, spineless leaves, which accepts hard and repeated pruning. It is the species behind the low hedges, spheres and cloud-pruned forms of Japanese gardens, and today the most reliable substitute for box.
- Small, glossy, spineless leaves that grow denser with every pruning
- Replaces box without the disease that is making it disappear
- Cloud-pruned specimens already trained branch by branch
About this species
Ilex crenata grows slowly to 2 to 4 metres, with fine, dense branching and leaves of 1 to 3 centimetres in a glossy dark green. The flowers are insignificant and the fruits, small and black, go unnoticed.
Its quality lies in its response to cutting: each pruning thickens the branching and makes it possible to maintain geometric or organic outlines for decades. Cloud-pruned specimens, trained branch by branch, arrive in the garden with their structure already formed.
It prefers moist, acidic to neutral, well-drained soils, and grows in sun or partial shade. It dislikes active lime and prolonged dryness in the first years.
Advice on this species
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