Last Wednesday, I attended my first in-person session of the Vashon Forest Stewardship Coached Planning, and got some advice on pulling up Holly which included: Don’t just cut down a tree, it’ll come back in 10s or 100s of sprouts. Apparently injecting imazapyr into the cambium is the easiest and most effective way, and according to the label, that’s safe for wetlands.

I’m inclined to avoid the herbicides until I see for myself that there’s really no alternative.

So, I’ve been pulling out the roots since then, and going back to wrestle some holly stumps out of the ground. Had I known how notorious holly is to sprouting after cutting, I might have done things differently…like at least left more of the stem to use for leverage when pulling out the roots.