Japanese Holly

The Japanese Holly is perfect for our median because it requires essentially zero maintenance to keep its upright, slender look. Unlike many other evergreen ornamental shrubs, it will stay compact and grow straight up with no shearing. Being free of prickly points found on many other hollies, it’s rather like a boxwood hedge. It’s a slow grower. Eventually these will provide a striking vertical counterpoint the length of the green wall next to Deadhorse.

This upright, narrow-at-the-top form is known as “fastigate.” This shape results from a genetic variation that hobbles plants' natural tendency to balance height and width wide to grab sunshine. These odd characters just aim straight up. Horticulturalists who spot such plants breed and graft them to dial in the form, and then we get plants like this holly. Like people, these shrubs will grow a bit wider as they reach full maturity. With the Sky Pencil, we’re talking 30 years, though. So stick around.