Stay Home Garlic Mustard Pull

The Little Forks Conservancy is working to kick start the invasive exotic species control season by encouraging homeowners to remove garlic mustard from their homes between April 24- May 31st.  Garlic mustard is an invasive plant that spreads rapidly through woodlots out-competing our native vegetation. It can also be established in residential areas.

Check out this quick video from the Director of Land Conservation:

Garlic mustard is a biennial flowering plant which grows low to the ground in the first year and then flowers in the second year. During the second year, garlic mustard will develop white flowers and grow up to 2 or 3 feet tall with the ability to disperse numerous seeds by wind and water.

​​“With folks spending a little more time at home this spring has inspired to create the Stay Home Garlic Mustard Pull where residents of our community can take a little time to help eradicate this unwanted plant from their yards” commented Elan Lipschitz, Director of Land Protection.
 
“We are all in this together to help improve our local environment and working together we can have an impact on controlling this unwanted plant from our backyards and neighborhoods” commented Lipschitz.

It's important to bag these plants in trash bags and leave in the sun to fully kill the plant. Garlic Mustard has the ability to continue to grow and seed even out of the soil!  ​

“We have created tags that can be downloaded for your trash bag, the tags identify the plant and explain that it is an invasive species to be disposed of”, commented Shelby Cain, Huron Pines AmeriCorps member. “This is a great opportunity of a little thing you can do safely at home that can make a difference.

One consideration for the pull is if you have a large infestation on your property to limit the number of bags per week to one or two to be considerate to our refuse collectors during the time of heavy hard waste collection. For more information regarding disposal of invasive species check out this guide. 

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Download Trash Tags