Evergreen Inkberries: Finding Just the Right One for Your Native Garden
- Nuts for Natives
- Aug 20
- 4 min read
Taller, shorter ... rounder ... you have options!
Inkberry
Inkberry (Ilex glabra) is one of the few native evergreen shrubs widely available to us as residential home gardeners. Shrubs can be dotted among garden beds to provide pops of winter color, planted along a fence to provide a bit of screening or used in place of boxwoods.
This shrub is sold as a plant for full sun or part shade and is often described as adaptable to many different soil conditions with average moisture. Ideal growing conditions are in moist acidic and well drained soils. The straight species can grow 8 to 10 feet tall and almost as wide when fully mature.
Inkberry is native to the east coast and, out in nature, is found growing next to swampy and boggy areas. It spreads by suckers. For the female plants to produce the small dark berries birds and small mammals eat, male and female plants are needed though plants are often sold without that labeling.
Recently, in my front garden, all day dappled shade became full sun after a 100 year or so old tree was removed for safety reasons. I became enamored with the idea of adding a bit of formality to the front of the garden. This is a switch from the more naturalistic style with layers of shrubs and perennials to provide screening and maximize wildlife value I use through most of the space. I still have lots of that in my 1/8 acre garden but I like the idea of trying this to show native plants can also be used more formally. Since I often suggest using inkberries in place of boxwoods when they succumb to boxwood blight, I knew if I was going more formal, I'd want to use native inkberries.
I already have two inkberries growing. Both are straight species planted in 2016. One is in full sun and thriving. The other is shaded by more mature trees and is much narrower and sparser. I have had much more success planting inkberries in full sun. Based on my experience, in shady locations, inkberry shrubs are competing with nearby trees for moisture and tend to succumb,
As an aside, by chance I planted a winterberry next to the inkberry in full sun. The dark green background really makes those red berries pop in fall.
For my slightly more formal design, a shrub that gets 8 to 10 feet tall and wide is too big for what I have in mind and that lead me to the cultivars of inkberry. The science on cultivars tells us changing the size and shape of a plant is not a negative for ecological value but changing foliage color or flowers is. These inkberry cultivars are all aimed at shape and size. Here are the choices I found readily available at local garden centers.
Inkberry Cultivars
Dwarf Inkberry:
Dwarf inkberry (Ilex glabra 'ILEX FARROWTRACEY' also sold as 'Strongbox'®) grows 2 to 3 feet wide tall and wide. This is a female plant. It is also bred to have a dense habit. These are "Proven Winners" plants. Proven Winners also has another female dwarf inkberry called 'Gem Box®' and a male which is upright, not round, called 'Squeeze Box®.' These are the smallest inkberries I found.
Small Inkberry:
Inkberry Forever Emeraldâ„¢ (Ilex glabra 'Alexander') grows 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and was bred to form a denser rounder habit. This cultivar is a part of the American Beauties native plant program. This is the type of inkberry I planted in my front garden redo. I like the size for my project and American Beauties plants are branded as neonicotinoid free.
Growing Tips
Getting Established
Because inkberry naturally grows in moist areas, it is very important to keep inkberry watered until is is well established. This is critical if you are planting in average moisture soils as I am.  I would also plan to water newly planted shrubs during the colder months once every couple of weeks so long as the ground is not frozen. I would do this the first year after planting and possibly the second year depending on whether it was a dry summer or fall.
Browning Out
It is not unusual for a part of a newly planted inkberry to turn dark brown if it has dried out a bit. I have even had it happen to the entire shrub. If the stems are still flexible, remove the brown foliage that is loose, dig up the shrub to make sure the root ball is not root bound (if it is, remove the shrub, tease out and loosen some of the roots), water the planting hole and then replant the shrub. Inkberries can rebound from their brown state if they get enough consistent moisture. Last winter, two dwarf inkberries I had in containers dried out and turned completely brown. I planted them in the moistest ground I have and they came back after about 8 weeks. I then planted them out in a permanent spot, all by way of saying, don't give up on them too early!
Selecting Plants
When you are purchasing inkberries, choose the smallest size of the plant that will work for you. Smaller plants establish much more readily and after a couple of years, are equally robust. Often times, larger inkberries at garden centers have been in their pots for quite sometime and are somewhat root bound. These can be more difficult to get established.
Legginess
Some gardeners don't like the tendency of inkberries to have bare stems at the base of the shrub. This seems particularly true if you are used to the shape of boxwoods. You can try one of the cultivars intended to have a rounder shape. Another way to address this is to underplant the shrub with a perennial or horizontally growing evergreen to cover the bare stems. Plants that come to mind are the perennial heuchera 'Autumn Bride' (Heuchera villosa "Autumn Bride') which grows in shade and is semi-evergreen and dwarf Maryland holly (Ilex opaca 'Maryland Dwarf') which is evergreen.
More on Inkberries?
When it is thriving, inkberry is very versatile, evergreen, low maintenance and does make a great substitute for boxwood! Have you grown these or types of inkberry cultivars not mentioned here? If so, please do share your tips and info!
Happy Gardening.
