Add elegant vertical interest to your landscape with Sky Pencil Japanese Holly, a popular narrow evergreen shrub introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum. This distinctive holly features an exceptionally slender, upright growth habit resembling a living green column.

Its dense, dark green foliage remains attractive year-round, making it ideal for framing entryways, accenting foundations, creating privacy screens, lining walkways, or adding height to container gardens. Unlike many shrubs that spread outward, Sky Pencil grows primarily upward, making it perfect for small gardens and tight spaces.

With its clean architectural form and minimal maintenance requirements, Sky Pencil is a favored choice for modern landscapes, formal gardens, and urban settings where space is limited.

This plant is shipped established in a 4 inch nursery pot and is ready to thrive in your landscape.

Product Details:

• 1 live Sky Pencil Japanese Holly
• 4 inch pot plant
• Columnar evergreen shrub
• Healthy, rooted landscape plant
• Secure packaging for safe arrival

Growing Information:

• Common Name: Sky Pencil Japanese Holly
• Botanical Name: Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’
• Plant Type: Evergreen shrub
• Growth Stage: Established potted plant
• Sun Requirements: Full sun to partial sun
• Soil: Well-drained soil; adaptable to many garden soils
• Watering: Moderate; prefers regular moisture during establishment
• Foliage: Dense, dark green evergreen leaves
• Growth Habit: Narrow, upright, columnar
• Mature Height: Approximately 4–10 feet
• Mature Width: Approximately 1–3 feet
• Growth Rate: Slow to moderate
• USDA Zones: 6–8
• Container Friendly: Excellent

Care Tip:

Plant in a location protected from heavy snow loads if possible. Minimal pruning is required to maintain its naturally narrow, pencil-like shape.

Plant Condition Disclosure

Live plants may be shipped dormant, leafless, recently pruned, bare root, or partially defoliated depending on season, weather, and shipping requirements.

Natural variation in size, branching, foliage density, color, root structure, and overall appearance should be expected.

Important Note

You will receive a live starter plant (seedling/young plant). Listing photos show the plant at a mature stage for reference only. The actual plant size, shape, and appearance may vary and will be significantly smaller than the images shown.

Customer Notice for Live Plants

Live plants may experience normal shipping stress such as leaf loss, yellowing, wilting, or minor branch damage.

Please consider local weather before purchasing. Extreme heat, freezing temperatures, severe weather, shipping delays, or unattended packages may increase plant stress.

Due to the perishable nature of live plants, returns are generally not accepted. If there is an issue with your order, please contact us within 48 hours of delivery and provide the required photos for review.

• Photos of the shipping box
• Photo of the shipping label
• Clear photos of the plant from multiple angles
• Scratch test photos if the plant appears dead or dormant

Dormant, stressed, defoliated, wilted, or transit-shocked plants are not automatically considered dead.

Claims submitted without the required photos or more than 48 hours after delivery may not be eligible for review, replacement, or refund.