Description:

An adaptable, fast growing cultivar with a tidy, pyramidal habit; the widest leaves in this species emerge yellow-green, then turn deep green and glossy; abundant red fruit in fall and winter make this a great addition to the landscape

Ornamental Features

Tensaw Dahoon Holly is primarily grown for its highly ornamental fruit. It features an abundance of magnificent red berries from early fall to late winter. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage which emerges chartreuse in spring. The large glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Tensaw Dahoon Holly is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds and bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Tensaw Dahoon Holly is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Tensaw Dahoon Holly will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more. This is a dioecious species, meaning that individual plants are either male or female. Only the females will produce fruit, and a male variety of the same species is required nearby as a pollinator.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species.