A fast, dense evergreen screen with glossy dark-green leaves and bright red winter berries — privacy without a second plant in sight.
Nellie Stevens Holly (Ilex X 'Nellie R. Stevens') is a broadleaf evergreen prized as one of the most reliable privacy and screening hollies for the South and mid-Atlantic. It carries thick, leathery, dark-green leaves year-round on a naturally full pyramidal frame, growing at a moderate, steady pace to a mature 15 to 25 ft. tall and 6 to 10 ft. wide. Its tight, layered branching gives you a solid green wall from the ground up — ideal for tall property-line screens, evergreen backdrops, and stately specimen planting.
Why growers choose the Nellie Stevens Holly
Dense, year-round screening. Branches hold foliage to the soil line, so it blocks views in every season — no bare winter gaps like deciduous hedges.
Self-fruiting habit. Unlike most hollies, Nellie Stevens sets a heavy crop of red berries without a male nearby, so a single row still lights up in winter.
Tough and adaptable. Heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant once established, and hardy in zones 6 to 9, it shrugs off conditions that stress softer evergreens.
More deer-resistant than arborvitae. The stiff, spined leaves discourage browsing, making it a smarter screen where deer pressure is high.
Low maintenance. Naturally pyramidal, so it looks tidy with little or no shearing, and resists most of the pests that plague needled conifers.
Plant a single specimen as a glossy evergreen anchor, or set several in a row for a tall privacy hedge, windbreak, or evergreen backdrop along a fence or property line.
