To Pull or Not? This is a wonderful article by my friend and colleague Jim Engel. It was originally in the Habitat Gardening in Central New York newsletter. See their web site at:
http://www.hgcny.org/
To Pull or Not?
By Jim Engel of White Oak Nursery
There it was just off the trail! I spotted it from a good 30 feet away. I thought about walking on,
but when would I be back this way again? I wondered to my self; how many people had passed this way
without noticing? Innocently unaware of the future danger to this pristine place. I stopped. My wife and
friends continued walking. It wasn't very large but it was well anchored in the gravelly soil, tucked in
between two maple roots. I didn't have gloves to protect my hands from the spines, so I gently gripped the
largest stems and pulled several times. The roots finally released their hold and I held in my hands the
remains of a Japanese barberry.
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