If you're getting around to taking down your holiday decorations now, just make sure you dispose of your holly properly.
On Instagram, Invasive Species Guy (@invasivespeciesguy), also known as Hunter, shared an annual reminder for anyone who used real English holly this past holiday season. It's important to avoid tossing it into natural areas once the holidays are over. He warned that holly can easily become established in new locations and overwhelm native plants.
"It's important that we bag and dispose of materials," Hunter wrote with a photo of his own holly bagged and ready to be tossed away. "Be mindful of inadvertently spreading the berries."
Some plants may have fairytale-like features that seem harmless. But they can have negative effects on your yard or even entire regions of the country if they become overabundant.
Hunter recommended native holiday alternatives to the Pacific Northwest, like Tall Oregon Grape. It has holly-like leaves of its own that won't overwhelm your yard, and it can save you money on watering and soil maintenance.
Native plants also act as a critical, co-evolved support for local pollinator populations. Pollinators are responsible for a third of the food we eat each day, according to the National Park Service.
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Rewilding your lawn or yard can go a long way in aiding this natural support system. It can also help reduce the use of harmful pesticides, which can destroy local pollinator and insect populations.
Users in the comments on the post shared their own struggles with holly.
"Did you dig out the roots, or is there another satisfying way to thoroughly kill it?" one commenter asked.
Hunter replied, "Ideally, you would take out the roots!"
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$200 or more 💰 He added that installing a girdle below ground would be time-consuming but effective for larger holly growth.
Another user shared their ongoing battle with a forest on the other side of their fence: "My neighbor's yard is 50% English holly, 50% English ivy and 50% other [Pacific Northwest] typical invasives."
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