This allows you to use them as architectural plants to frame a door or entryway or on decks and patios. Sky Pencil holly shrubs grow well in containers. They are grown primarily for their interesting shape. They produce small, greenish flowers and female plants produce tiny, black berries, but neither is particularly ornamental. With pruning, you can maintain them at a height of 6 feet (2 m.) and a width of just 12 inches (31 cm.). Sky Pencil hollies are narrow, columnar shrubs that grow up to 8 feet (2 m.) tall and 2 feet (61 cm.) wide. Read on to find out how to plant a Sky Pencil holly and how easy it is to care for this interesting plant. It is a cultivar (cultivated variety) of Japanese holly and has evergreen foliage that resembles boxwoods more than hollies. If left to grow naturally, it grows no more than 2 feet (61 cm.) wide, and you can prune it to just a foot (31 cm.) in width. The first thing you’ll notice is its narrow, columnar shape. Full establishment for woody shrubs is anywhere from 3-5 years.Unique and with a style all its own, Sky Pencil holly ( Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’) is a versatile plant with dozens of uses in the landscape. I wouldn't expect much more than 4-6" per year and that not until after the plant is fully established in the garden. 'Sky Pencil' and most other Japanese hollies are not especially fast growing. The plant should be getting what it needs from the soil. but fertilizing if not necessary will not help. You can optimize this by providing the best possible growing conditions - proper lighting, a fertile, well-draining soil of appropriate pH, adequate moisture, avoidance of excessive cold or heat, etc. A plant grows according to genetic programming - as fast or slow as its genus and species is inclined. In fact, growth that IS stimulated by fertilization may often be weak and leggy and overly attractive to insect and disease issues. If you question fertility, test your soil otherwise let your plants tell YOU when they need supplementation rather than the other way around.Īhhh.that's a common misconception of many with fertilizers :-) They are not intended for nor should be used to stimulate growth. If you mulch your garden with an organic mulch and have even moderately fertile soil, there is usually minimal need for fertilization. Earth's Organic 4 (Azalea, Rhodo and Camellia) fert.įWIW, I would encourage you to move away from the thinking that woody plants need to be fertilized on any kind of a regular schedule. If you DO find the need to fertilize, then a blended, all purpose organic fert would work very well, or with any broadleaved evergreen plant (i.e., the Sky Pencil), an acid loving formulation is ideal. It doesn't hurt to apply alfalfa meal as a mulch as it is a low grade organic nitrogen source as well as providing organic matter, but I'd not count on it to be an all-purpose product by any stretch. We can argue semantics unnecessarily, but alfalfa meal or any single ingredient products are more soil amendments than efficient fertilizers - they lack a well-rounded selection of nutrients and often, are lacking in many micronutrients and trace elements as well. Does it need fertilizing? If not, don't if it does, then apply fertilizer.
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