How to Grow Nellie Stevens Holly Trees

The last thing you want sitting on your porch is the prying eyes of neighbors or loud noises. No, you want to enjoy your garden to relax.

Well, this is where Nellie Stevens Holly is sure to help. The tree will provide you with the privacy to natural solitude you want. The Holly trees form a dense hedge to create a privacy screen.

At the same time, you can enjoy the natural shade, bringing color to your yard throughout the year.

Plant Name: Ilex X ‘Nellie R. Stevens’

Other Name: Nellie Stevens Holly or Stevens Holly

Plant Type: Evergreen Plant

Native Areas: Hybrid

Light Requirement: Full sun to partial shade

Watering: Weekly Watering

Fertilizer: Slow Release Fertilizer

Toxicity: Toxic to Humans and Pets

Temperature: Can handle temperatures above -10°F

Propagation: Semi Ripe Cuttings

Growth: 15 to 25 feet tall hedge

Soil Type: Well-Drained Soil

USDA Zones: 6-9

Nellie Stevens Holly Care Guide

Ilex X ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ @flickr

The Nellie Stevens Hollies are female plants and a hybrid between the Chinese Holly and English Holly trees, making it a female-only cultivar. These plants are generally dioecious and need both the female and male holly to produce berries.

Still, the Nellie Stevens Holly is an exception as it is partially parthenocarpic, meaning it can set fruit without a male plant, but the berries are seedless. The male counterparts are known as Ilex x Edward J. Stevens.

Still, she remains an exceptional tree adding winter interest to any garden indoors and outside. You can take some branch clippings for holiday decorations or enjoy this evergreen plant outdoors with bright red berries.

You can also find the Nellie Stevens Holly sold with a single trunk or in a bush form. The Stevens Holly is best planted up to six feet apart to help create a living wall in the yard.

Soil Requirements For Nellie Stevens Holly Trees

The best for Nellie Stevens to form those gorgeous evergreen leaves and red berries is acidic soil that drains well. So whether you grow her in landscaping or a container, ensure it drains well.

She can also tolerate slightly alkaline soil to sandy soil, but it helps to add some compost to the mix. If your native soil is heavy clay, we recommend amending it with coarse sand to drain the water freely.

Lighting Needs For These Fast-Growing Trees

The broad-leaf evergreens prefer full sun to partial shade to provide the best interest year-round. It helps provide your trees with afternoon shade in excessive heat if you live in a hot climate. One thing you will love about these holly shrubs is that they are low-maintenance plants.

Watering Your Nellie Stevens Holly

During the growing season in spring and summer, your Nellie needs about one inch of water per week. The best thing is to stick that finger in the ground to see if the soil is dry. So, be careful not to overwater your shrubs, as they will die.

The holly trees are drought tolerant for a short period, but in extreme heat, it helps to give the root ball the nourishment it needs. You can refrain from watering in fall or winter. So, in warmer regions, water deeply and allow the water to drain freely away.

Temperature and Humidity

Ilex X ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ in winter @flickr

Nellie Stevens Holly can grow in the growing zones 6 to 9 and thrives in warm weather to frost. Still, it helps to provide the root ball with some protection using some pine needles as mulch as it provides the surrounding soil with a slightly acidic touch.

Furthermore, it will help retain water and protect the roots when the frost hits.

Fertilizing Nellie Stevens Holly

You can apply about two inches of organic matter every spring to help retain moisture. Then, in late fall, you can apply a slow-release fertilizer like a 10-5-5 to keep the holly tree leaves green.

Then apply an organic mulch after spreading the fertilizer made up of wood chips or pine needles to help regulate the soil temperature and it helps to control the weeds.

If you notice yellow leaves in summer, you can feed her another cup of fertilizer and water deeply to prevent root burns.

Pruning Nellie Stevens Holly Trees

The best time to prune Nellie is mid to late fall or early spring. After that, the trees grow pyramidal without much trimming. But if you want your shrub to look more like a tree, prune the lower branches during winter to expose the trunk.

Hence, the important thing when buying your holly trees is to buy the specimen needed to form a living wall or privacy screen like the shrubs.

Planting Hole For Nellie Stevens Hollies

When you plant Nellie Stevens Holly as shrubs in a row, provide up to six feet of space in between. Ensure to dig a planting hole twice as wide as the root ball at the same height as in the container.

Place the tree in the hole to backfill with the soil and soak it to settle in to fill further with soil as needed. Keep watering your plant until you see new growth appear. Another important note is that your tree will only bloom white flowers once it matures to five years old in spring, followed by red berries.

Propagation of Nellie Stevens Holly Trees

Regarding Stevens Holly, care is not too difficult; the same applies to propagation. The best is to take softwood cuttings gathered in summer or early fall. Then dip it in a rooting hormone in potting soil and dry sand. Keep the cutting moist until the roots establish.

Nellie Stevens Holly Similar Trees

While the Nellie Stevens Holly is an exceptional tree, you can control it up to three feet tall. You can find other hollies available to plant as well.

Altaclere Holly (Ilex x altaclerensis)

The holly shrubs are native to Europe and need the partial sun or dappled shade for the dark green leaves. The foliage has golden variegation.

American Holly (Ilex opaca)

The holly shrubs are native to America and need direct sun to flourish. Compared to the other hollies, it has spiny leaves and is deer-resistant, growing red berries.

Blue Holly (Ilex x meserveae)

 The holly tree is a cross between the Tsuru holly and English Ivy, needing direct sunlight to partial shade. It has evergreen leaves with thorns and showy flowers.

Carolina Holly (Ilex ambigua)

Ilex ambigua @flickr

This is another Native American holly needing sun to part shade, and the foliage has teeth with wavy leaves.

Catberry (Ilex mucronata)

Another native American and European holly is the Cantberry which thrives in part shade with green leaves.

Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta)

The horned holly is native to Asia and needs partial shade from the sun with leaves pointing downwards, and it is also drought tolerant. Hence, it is a low-maintenance tree plant to grow in the garden.

Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine)

Another American native holly is the Dahoon Holly, which needs sun to part shade to grow. The foliage is green and smooth.

English Holly  (Ilex aquifolium)

As the name implies, it is a holly native to Europe that needs sun to part shade to grow. The foliage is green, with spikes found around the edges.

Nellie Stevens Holly Tree Common Diseases and Pests

As with most trees, it is not pest or disease free. We recommend looking out for spider mites, whitefly, and scale. To prevent these insect infestations spraying neem oil helps or using insecticidal soap.

Furthermore, the Nellie Stevens Holly can get root rot, chlorosis, and canker.