Dahoon Holly

Go big and go native with the gorgeous evergreen Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine) supporting local ecosystems and wildlife in your landscape! The smooth, leathery, and shiny dark green broadleaf evergreen leaves of this pyramidal plant can reach two to three inches long. Rarely producing spines or teeth.

Like many Holly bushes and trees, Dahoon Hollies have separate male and female plants. Both will have pretty white blossoms that the local bees and other beneficial pollinators go ga-ga for!Especially since this hardy native is something they evolved alongside and recognize readily as food! Likewise for your songbirds, when the fall berries on the female plants appear to bedeck your plant if pollinated by a nearby male plant!

Dahoon Holly are excellent southern natives that thrive throughout USDA planting zones 7 to 11! When left unpruned a mature Dahoon can reach an impressive 18-25 feet in height and only spread 8-12 feet in width, growing wider at the bottom than the top.

Planting and Application:

Dahoon Holly are wonderful year-round greenery without being heavy or oppressive, creating informal shrubby growth that provides a good screen without fully blocking your view. They do provide wonderful visual barriers and deter trespassers along your property line and beef up a Snow hedge or Windbreak installation. When used as backdrops and hedges, their growth both adds a sense of seclusion without feeling completely isolated!

These natives can be found growing along wet coastal plains and throughout the understory in the wild, making the Dahoon a fantastic easy-to-grow landscape workhorse that can handle anything your more pampered landscape can throw at them! Not tolerating soggy soil, Dahoon Holly do like higher moisture environments and can be planted near Rain Gardens and moist woodland edges with ease.

Planting multiple Dahoon in hedges or groupings guarantees pollination of the female plants to better enjoy their bright red fall display! Snip a few stems of berries for indoor holiday decor, or leave them as winter interest and bird food during the lean winter months!

Coastal gardeners can enjoy gorgeous evergreen brilliance that handles sun and salt spray, while southern climate landscapes benefit from a great landscape plant that can be used in woodland and dappled understory situations. You can even keep the branching to the ground as a shrub or prune up the trunk to create a unique small tree form to best accent your garden's needs!

• Leathery Glossy Broadleaf Evergreen Foliage
• Male & Female Trees Have White Spring Flowers
• Native Bee & Beneficial Pollinator-Friendly
• Female Trees Produce Glossy Red Berries For Birds
• Can Tolerate Coastal Conditions, Heat, Humidity & Higher Moisture
• Windbreak, Snow Hedges, Privacy & Informal Specimens

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Evergreen Holly trees do best in the full sun and will have the largest berry production in a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight a day. But this remarkable tree will also grow perfectly well in part shade too! These natives are tolerant of wet soils on occasion but do best in well-drained moist soil. All plants appreciate a 3-4 inch layer of arborist mulch around their entire root zone, especially plants in full sun and drier soil conditions.

Dahoon Holly trees flower on new growth so they can be pruned as needed before they start to grow. Once they flower, they can be pruned later if needed, but you will not enjoy as large a berry display on female plants.

• Full Sun & Partial Shade
• Well-Drained Acidic Soil Conditions
• Average to High Moisture - Occasional Wet Soils
• Flowers On New Wood - Prune When Dormant
• No Pests or Disease Concerns

Big informal broadleaf evergreens with bright red berries, the native Dahoon Holly Tree will enhance your landscape without making a fuss or being demanding of your time! Order your quality native plants and trees from Nature Hills Nursery today!