Strongbox? Inkberry Holly

For a well-balanced landscape, it's advised to ensure that at least one-third of your plants are evergreen. These rock-steady plants help set the lines of your design; giving structure and year-round color for interest in all seasons! For those who prefer to limit the pruning requirements, we highly recommend Strongbox® Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra 'ILEXFARROWTRACEY') is an excellent, elegant broad-leaved evergreen.

Strongbox Inkberry Holly stays small and grows into a broadly rounded shape. It resembles a Boxwood but grows faster! This broad-leaved evergreen shrub maintains its blue-green foliage all the way to the ground. The pretty, round leaves do not have rough-edged prickles. They make a handsome green accent plant all season.

Strongbox® is a female plant and may produce tiny black-berries if you have a male Inkberry Holly nearby. History buffs can try their hand at recreating the Civil War experience of homesick soldiers writing with homespun ink!

This hardy evergreen is just about maintenance-free, not needing any coddling, and still able to look great! Strongbox® is low-maintenance and very disease and pest resistant. No wonder the popularity of these charming small evergreens is skyrocketing!

Planting and Application:

Massed plantings of Strongbox® Inkberry Holly act just like the right setting to set off a jewel. Rely on their year-round visual impact to ground the effect of an informal grouping of flowering deciduous trees. An excellent, adaptable broadleaved evergreen with or without the fruit.

They won't mind wet feet once in a while. Try at the edge of a pond. Weave them into the mesic zone of a planned Rain Garden. Use a sweet edging row to corral an airy-fairy Cottage Garden. Strongbox® also shores up the look of free-range sculptural shrubs like Fothergilla and Buttonbush.

Let them grow out without any pruning to provide a natural, evergreen outline to a rustic Butterfly Garden! This is a great plant to include in a Pollinator Garden, as the tiny white spring flowers support honey bees. If the blooms get pollinated, local songbirds will certainly enjoy feasting on their berries in the fall!

It doesn't matter if you are renting, or if you own your property - you can always grow Strongbox® Inkberry Holly in large outdoor containers to gain a wonderfully formal feeling, for little more effort than regular watering. Pop them into containers for your patio. You might love the look of a curated collection of shapes, colors, and styles with a consistent Strongbox Inkberry Holly plant used in each pot!

You'll find so many ways to use these tidy, architectural plants to spice up the looks of your landscape. Repeat them in a mixed garden border to give a constant evergreen presence, even in winter. Use it as a formal low-hedging plant that needs little pruning. Or, shape them to add to your foundation, or in patio plantings. Create a low, solid hedge by planting them two feet apart. You'll measure from the center of one to the center of the next.

• Beautiful Blue-Green Foliage Without Spines or Prickles
• Tiny White Flowers in Springtime Support Beneficial Pollinators
• Female Cultivar - Black Berries in Fall With a Male Pollinator Nearby
• Compact & Carefree Broadly Rounded Form
• Grows Faster Than Boxwood
• Historical Use
• Sophisticated Choice for Outdoor Containers
• Great for Foundation Plantings & Low Hedge Edging

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Plant Strongbox® in either full sun or partial shade. Give them at least four hours of morning sunshine. In very warm climates, they'll appreciate a little afternoon shade. Inkberry Holly is tolerant but performs best in moist, acidic soils. These ericaceous plants need a lower pH soil. Apply a medium amount of supplemental water regularly, in the absence of rainfall. Add a three-inch layer of pine straw or pine bark mulch, and fertilize with acid-loving plant formulas following label directions.

Pruning is not really needed. However, you may want to shorten or even up growth after the first flush of growth in late spring. This premium selection is quite adaptable to a wide variety of different garden sites, acidic soils, and conditions!

• Widely Adaptable - Full Sun Or Partial Shade
• Can Tolerate Periodically Soggy Soils
• Rarely Needs Pruning
• Resists Winter Burn!
• Seldomb Bothered by Rabbits & Deer, Pest & Disease-Resistant

Really, you can style these small shrubs any way you like! Their versatility is one of the reasons people adore them so much. Create a stunning style with this carefree native broad-leaved evergreen. Place your order for Strongbox® Inkberry Holly today from NatureHills.com!