Weeding the Woods

Lost in a sea of garlic mustard.

This is the season we’ve waited for — spring wildflowers, cool sunny weather and…. Garlic Mustard.

As many volunteers know, the goal is to get those plants out before they can spread their seed. GM is a biennial, sending up a rosette of leaves the first year to gather sunlight and store energy. They overwinter as rosettes, sending up a flowering stalk in the second year. Each plant produces hundreds of seed, after which they die. By pulling the plants before the seeds ripen, we prevent many new plants from forming.

It’s been especially satisfying lately, with all the rain softening the ground….those plants just pop right out, roots and all. But how do we know we’ve got the right plant? The leaves have a characteristic ….. Similar Spring Cress….