How fast does Sky Pencil Holly grow?

This evergreen shrub is a slow to moderate grower. The Japanese Sky Pencil holly growth rate is up to 6-12 inches per year.

How do you prune a Sky Pencil Hollies?

Pruning techniques include keeping the sky pencil tree to desired size and shape. You can prune the tree narrower if preferred. The pencil shrub maintains its columnar shape and growth habit without any pruning.

How tall does a Sky Pencil Holly get?

It can reach a mature height of 8-10 feet tall at maturity.

Is Sky Pencil Holly deer resistant?

The Sky Pencil Holly is deer resistant along with being pest and drought resistant.

Do sky pencil holly have invasive roots?

A rule of thumb is to remember that roots will usually grow as wide as the canopy width of the plant. Sky Pencils don't grow very wide, so their root systems are more extended than they are wide and are not invasive.

Sky Pencil Japanese Holly for Sale Online

Price 40% off

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Buy direct from the grower

Family owned farm since 1980

You're good to grow this in Zone X

Buy Sky Pencil Holly Online

Vertical Growth & Year-Round Evergreen Foliage

The Japanese Sky Pencil Holly shrub quite literally makes an exclamation mark in your landscape! Introduced in 1992 by the National Arboretum in Washington, DC.

The ilex Sky Pencil Japanese Holly features a narrow, columnar form, making it an ideal choice for garden design, small areas, or specimen plants. Its dark green foliage holds color year-round, and the small evergreen tree produces showy purple berries in the fall on female plants. Also produces dainty creamy white flowers in early spring.

The Japanese pencil trees grow great for use as a vertical accent plant, near entryways, or as a privacy screen or narrow hedge. You can also plant it in a large container for an elegant, formal appearance. The green pencil shrub maintains its columnar shape and growth habit without any pruning.

Cold Hardy Evergreen Shrub!

This Japanese holly ilex crenata sky pencil, as it is named botanically, will grow best in full sun to partial shade needed to keep the green-colored leaves. Grow this plant across the United States in the Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5-9. It is very cold hardy!

We hope you love our Sky Pencil Holly for sale. Easy to grow, easy to maintain, and free of pests and diseases… it is the package deal!

Check out our other Holly Shrubs for sale.

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Botanical Name

Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil'

Sunlight
Full Sun / Partial Shade

Foliage Color
Dark green

Flower Color
Greenish-white

Mature Width
2-3 ft

Mature Height
8-10 ft

Growing Zones 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Customer Reviews

4.8 Based on 53 Reviews

5 ★

89%

4 ★

3 ★

2 ★

1 ★

Customer Photos

Sky Pencil Holly - Customer Photo From Will Pons

Sky Pencil Holly - Customer Photo From Albert Peckham

Sky Pencil Holly - Customer Photo From Larry Viterna

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Reviews
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10/22/2023

Jeannie L.

United States

This is the place!

If you want healthy, beautiful plants sent to you Perfect Plants is the place. They take great care to carefully wrap them and place them in a box to ensure quality. Thanks you guys

Sky Pencil Holly

11/14/2023

Perfect Plants Nursery

Hi Jeannie, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review on our Sky Pencil Holly! We appreciate the feed back and your honesty. We're so glad that you were completely satisfied with the plant and its packaging. Happy planting, Shirley

10/13/2023

Anonymous

United States

Holly pencil

All the plants died after a few week’s disappointing

Sky Pencil Holly

11/13/2023

Perfect Plants Nursery

Hi Anonymous, Thank you for purchasing your Sky Pencils with us here at Perfect Plants Nursery. We're sorry to hear about the experience you had with them. All of our plants do come with a 1-month warranty (with the possibility to extend that warranty to a year) so any customer has the potential to contact us and we'll gladly take care of them. Best, Shirley

10/13/2023

Anonymous

United States

Poor plants.

All the plants died. Disappointed

Sky Pencil Holly

10/17/2023

Perfect Plants Nursery

Hi there, Thank you for choosing Perfect Plants for your garden needs! We're sorry to hear that your Sky Pencil Hollies came in bad condition, we'll be happy to take care of you! Please send us photos over, of your plants, to: contact@myperfectplants.com to have one of our amazing customer service representatives help you out! Best, Shirley

10/01/2023

Julie D.

United States

Amazing!

I just got them in the ground. Was waiting for the scorching Alabama summer heat to subside. They are so healthy. Looking forward to watching them grow. All of the plants I purchased were great quality and super healthy. Thank you to the whole team for providing such wonderful plants! I will be purchasing more form Perfect Plants for sure!

Sky Pencil Holly

10/03/2023

Perfect Plants Nursery

We aim to bring joy and beauty to your garden, and it sounds like we hit the bullseye. Your satisfaction is what makes us smile and give each other high-fives. We can't wait to assist you with more plant purchases in the future. Your garden is going to be the envy of the neighborhood, my friend! If you ever need more plant advice or just feel like chatting about all things green, you know where to find us.

07/16/2023

Will P.

United States

So far a perfect experience

I had intended to search for clumping bamboo for a 30 ft fence needed a privacy shield. The cost of the bamboo was higher than I anticipated. I had purchased Star Jasmine from Perfect Plants previously and was impressed with the efficient packaging and overall customer service. Speaking with a customer service rep from Perfect plants, Kendall suggested their Sky Pencil Holly as an alternative to the bamboo. I ordered 10 plants and they arrived in “perfect” condition. All plants were healthy and look nice against my fence. I will use Perfect Plants in the future without hesitation.

Sky Pencil Holly

07/17/2023

Perfect Plants Nursery

Hi Will, I'm thrilled to hear that the Sky Pencil Holly plants are looking fantastic against your fence. It sounds like you had a little fencing fiasco that turned fabulous with the help of our friendly customer service rep, Kendall. If you ever have any more gardening adventures or need some plant parenting advice, don't hesitate to reach out, we'll be more than happy to help! Happy planting, Shirley

We've determined you're in Growing Zone 10b

Sky Pencil Holly

Sky Pencil Holly

Buy Sky Pencil Holly Online

Cold Hardy Evergreen Shrub!

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This is the place!

Perfect Plants Nursery

Holly pencil

Perfect Plants Nursery

Poor plants.

Perfect Plants Nursery

Amazing!

Perfect Plants Nursery

So far a perfect experience

Perfect Plants Nursery