If your holly is 2 metres tall it is highly unlikely that it will transplant successfully.

I agree Moon grower. I lost 2 which I had no choice but to move. Neither was successful.

I understood that typically, the root ball = size of growth above ground.

Hollies grow quite quickly. Perhaps you could look around in the undergrowth and find a seedling that is a moveable size?

Thank you for your replies. I was hesitant, and I now think that I will abandon this plan. However, Beattie's suggestion of finding a seedling (or several - I was planning on creating a holly hedge too) sounds good - I'm sure I can find some, there is just about everything else growing and crawling there (Mukade - Japanese stinging centipede, Yamakagashi - Japanese grass snake, very venomous, etc). On the subject of roots, I'm sure you are right for hollies, but I'm hoping to take some extraordinary shots this weekend of the roots growing on one side of the bank to the road. It is from a tree and the roots have been growing in the leaf mulch (of the new lawn area) horizontally. When I had the ground cleared for the lawn a few weeks ago, it exposed some of the roots, and they are about 30 metres long, even the though the tree itself is only about a metre high! No idea what the tree is only a metre high (the leaves had dropped before I got the property, so I 'll have to wait until next spring to identify it). Thanks everyone. Bw, ptarotuos