: I see varying information. How tall will a Nellie R. Stevens holly grow? I need a short row of a screening shrub that will grow at least 10 or 12 feet tall. : Nellie R. Stevens holly would be ...

Sometimes people don’t realize how large Nellie R. Stevens hollies can grow (up to 15 to 20 ft. tall and 12 or 14 ft. wide). They plant them where a Willowleaf holly or even a dwarf Burford ...

Plant it and let it grow for a year or two, gradually removing lower branches. You don’t want bare trunks to extend more than about 40% of the way up the total height of the tree.

DEAR NEIL: If I wanted to grow a Nellie R. Stevens holly as a tree, how would I train it? I see nice shrubs in the nursery. What should I be looking for?

A popular hybrid of English and Chinese is Ilex aquifolium x cornuta ‘Nellie R. Stevens.’ All of the above have red berry-like fruits, but many hybrids and cultivars have orange or yellow ones.

Dear Neil: I have a large Nellie R. Stevens holly that I’d really like to train into a tree form. ... Plant them in a massed bed 3-4 inches apart and twice as deep as the bulbs are tall.

One reputable online source says that Chinese holly, Ilex cornuta, can pollinate ‘Nellie Stevens’ holly. Chinese holly is the shrub that has so many spines on each leaf it’s scary to look at ...

Dear Neil: I’m planting Nellie R. Stevens hollies along our 6-foot privacy fence and will top it at 8 feet. How far a part should I space them, and how far should they be away from the fence 18 ...

Holly is not a deer’s first choice (American holly is virtually deer-proof), and can also tolerate severe pruning. Your Nellie Stevens should recover in time, as long as this doesn’t happen often.