Is Japanese holly (ilex crenata) useful for local wildlife? - Ask Extension
Hi! I'm trying to plant only natives. I know Japanese holly isn't native, but in one of your newsletters there's a short piece about it as "plant...
Knowledgebase
Is Japanese holly (ilex crenata) useful for local wildlife? #929124
Asked April 21, 2026, 3:03 PM EDT
Hi! I'm trying to plant only natives. I know Japanese holly isn't native, but in one of your newsletters there's a short piece about it as "plant of the week" which says "the native birds have no problem finding [the berries]." Does that mean *our* native birds? I'm not much of a gardener, but I'm trying to follow Miyawaki forest principles when new (and in this case, free from a neighbor!) plants come my way. If it helps our birds, I'll keep it!
Baltimore City County Maryland
Expert Response
Extension publishes a number of newsletters...can you clarify which newsletter mentioned wildlife value for Japanese Holly? It would help us see what was said to be able to respond to that statement. Our local bird species can and do eat holly berries (both native and non-native), although the berries on Japanese Holly (and our native Inkberry Holly) are black when ripe, not red, so they aren't as visible and might be passed-over by some foraging animals.
Hollies are also dioecious plants, which means that they produce male flowers and female flowers on separate plants; only the female flowers turn into berries if they are pollinated. There are many cultivars of most holly species, and some Japanese Holly varieties are male and do not produce any fruit. Female varieties would also not fruit unless they have a male Japanese Holly pollinator nearby for the insects visiting the blooms to move the pollen around. Although Japanese Hollies are widely used in Maryland gardens and landscaping, we typically don't see many (or any) berries on them, either because regular trimming interferes with flowering and berry production or because compatible pollinators are not nearby.
The seeds and berries of non-native plants can be eaten by birds and other wildlife (that is, after all, one way that invasive plants move around and colonize new habitat - having their seeds deposited in bird droppings), but that doesn't necessarily mean those non-native food sources are as healthy for them as native alternatives. We recommend that plants grown for the benefit of feeding birds be native where possible. So far, Japanese Holly has spread invasively a bit from seed into natural areas and woodlands, though it's not as prevalent a weed (yet) as other shrub species.
Miri
Hollies are also dioecious plants, which means that they produce male flowers and female flowers on separate plants; only the female flowers turn into berries if they are pollinated. There are many cultivars of most holly species, and some Japanese Holly varieties are male and do not produce any fruit. Female varieties would also not fruit unless they have a male Japanese Holly pollinator nearby for the insects visiting the blooms to move the pollen around. Although Japanese Hollies are widely used in Maryland gardens and landscaping, we typically don't see many (or any) berries on them, either because regular trimming interferes with flowering and berry production or because compatible pollinators are not nearby.
The seeds and berries of non-native plants can be eaten by birds and other wildlife (that is, after all, one way that invasive plants move around and colonize new habitat - having their seeds deposited in bird droppings), but that doesn't necessarily mean those non-native food sources are as healthy for them as native alternatives. We recommend that plants grown for the benefit of feeding birds be native where possible. So far, Japanese Holly has spread invasively a bit from seed into natural areas and woodlands, though it's not as prevalent a weed (yet) as other shrub species.
Miri
