![]() If you are planting a row or border of Sky Pencil Holly, allow 2-3 feet between bushes. Air pockets prevent all parts of the root from touching the soil which isn’t good because the roots get their needed nutrients from the soil. Use your foot to compress the soil around it and remove any potential air pockets. Put the plant in the ground and cover it firmly. At this point, it is good to add some compost to the hole to enrich the soil and make for better growing. Once you’ve picked the perfect location, dig a hole in the ground that is as deep as the root ball and 3 times wider. It prefers a slightly acidic, moist, soil but it adapts easily to a wide variety of soils. This super easy-going shrub does well in a variety of soils as long as they drain well. On a slight slope is always a good choice. It should only be planted in the spring in a location that gets good drainage. Planting the Sky Pencil Holly is super easy. Once they are full grown, in about 3 years, they will all look the same. The size of the start isn’t as important as making sure you buy from a reputable supplier. Starts, or cuttings, for the Sky Pencil Holly can be obtained from your local garden center or online. The impressive part is that even while it is small it keeps its upright, ‘at-attention’ stance, making a statement at all times it seems. It may even seem like it isn’t growing much in the first few years but it is, just at its own pace. This shrub grows slowly but impressively. It is super nice to have the rich green foliage of this plant to gaze at while the world around descends into snow and cold. In a container, it can be kept outside during the temperate months and then relocated to a more protected space when the cold and snow begin. And luckily for those of us who live in colder climates, it does really well growing in a container as well. The Sky Pencil Holly can be planted outdoors in USDA plant hardiness zones 6 -9. The Sky Pencil Holly lives for approximately 40 years so plan your landscape with its longevity in mind. They are useful to camouflage rain gutter downspouts, central air conditioning units, and other unsightly things found in office parks and around buildings. This shrub has also been used in a lot of functional settings. A long row of rosebushes, perhaps, accentuated at the end with a giant exclamation shrub? Or an arrangement of flowers with one or two Sky Pencil Hollies bursting up through the center? If you are going to plant Sky Pencil Holly, think about what kind of statement you want to make. We want a nice cohesive blending of plants and flowers and ignore the uniqueness of each one. ![]() I like them for this, however, my favorite planting of these are as single shrubs, standing out in the landscape yelling “Look at Me!” I think too often we want our landscapes to meld and merge together. ![]() The majority of people use Sky Pencil Holly for hedgerows. A big bonus of this evergreen holly, however, is that it doesn’t have prickly leaves like so many other hollies have. The Sky Pencil Holly has small, oval, green leaves that stay this color year-round, like all evergreens. The birds like the berries, though, so it is nice to provide a good meal to some feathery friends. Neither of these is as attractive or remarkable as its shape. It blooms small, light, undistinctive green flowers and has little black berries. There aren’t many shrubs that offer the visual appeal that this one does without taking up huge amounts of space. It is a great choice for spaces where there isn’t room for wider plants. It will not grow wider than two feet at its deepest and it can be pruned to be even narrower. It is a cultivated variety of Japanese holly and is classified as a broadleaf evergreen shrub and is part of the boxwood evergreens family.ĭescription Sky Pencil Holly By Martin Hackney from Sky Pencil Holly grows up to 10 feet tall and is broad at the top with its branches tapering off towards the bottom. Originally from Japan, the Sky Pencil Holly was introduced into the U.S. They stand out when arranged in pairs to flank a statue or wall. They also look great placed on decks or patios and as foundation plantings. Two Sky Pencil Hollies look amazing as a frame to a doorway or at an entrance to a driveway. With large enough containers, it can still grow to its full height of 10 feet and make sure no one misses seeing it. While this shrub looks best rising up out of an outdoor landscape, it can also be grown in a container. If you are the type of person who likes your garden to make a statement, the Sky Pencil Holly is for you. The fact that it is super easy to grow only makes it that much more attractive as a holly. ![]() The distinctive shape wants to be used in a bold landscape or as a striking hedgerow. The name Sky Pencil Holly is an apt descriptor. This is one of my favorite evergreens because it literally stands up like an exclamation point and announces itself to all passersby.
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