Shrub · North Texas care guide
Ilex × attenuata 'Savannah'
Nursery Pro tip: Sold tree-form for a narrow evergreen with real berry show. Give it steady water the first year; it's a little thirstier than yaupon.
A tall, narrow, upright holly — 20–30 ft eventually and only 8–12 wide — with soft-spined lighter-green leaves and enormous crops of red berries that hold all winter. Often sold as a multi-trunk tree form, and it's one of the best evergreen screens for a narrow side yard.
Full sun to part shade. Prefers a slightly acidic, well-drained soil and shows iron deficiency faster than other hollies in our clay — worth amending the bed with compost and keeping sulfur on hand. Space 8 ft apart for a screen.
Fall through spring. Wide hole, ball at grade, native soil plus compost, Root Stimulator, 3 inches of mulch.
Twice a week the first two summers, then weekly in the heat. It is less drought-tough than yaupon.
Holly or acid-loving fertilizer in early spring, plus chelated iron and soil sulfur yearly in high-pH beds.
Late winter, minimal. Limb it up to show the trunks, or leave it to the ground for screening.
Iron chlorosis is the common complaint — yellow leaves with green veins. Scale; leaf drop after a hard freeze. Heavy berry set can bend branches, which is a feature, not a problem.
Narrow screen between houses, evergreen backdrop for a perennial bed, or a specimen where you want winter berries for the birds.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.