Holly Gone

Did some gardening today. Spent the afternoon grappling with the undergrowth. I don't like gardening. I don't like any job which you do and then have to do again later. When I do a job I like it to stay done, but gardens are not like that. You can spend a whole hour (or even two) getting rid of all the weeds and stuff and then in a year (or sometimes even less) you have to do it all again.

Anyhoo, one of the few garden tasks that I do well is getting rid of stuff. Ask me to plant something and the odds are I will perform something akin to a burial. Ask me to dispose of something (but remember to ask me to get rid of the right thing because my targeting is a bit wayward) and you can be pretty sure that something will be removed. Today it was the turn of the holly bush.

Holly is cute on Christmas cards. It is not cute when it is 8 feet tall, prickly as hell and hiding the dustbins. So it had to go. By a cunning combination of cutters, brute strength and ignorance and innumerable plastic bags the holly bush is now spread around the council dump. A little holly removal tip: Leave yourself a nice long bit sticking out of the ground for you and anyone else daft enough to help you. This can be swung on most effectively to lever the stump out of the ground. Oh, and wear the thickest leather gloves you can find.