You’d scarcely think to look twice at it: to all appearances, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) seems an inconspicuous bit of green in a sea of more green. Then time goes by…and it IS the sea of green! This pernicious invasive plant out-competes native species through a combination of its growth pattern (early emergence and large size help it win the competition for light and water) and allelopathy (releasing a substance from its roots that is toxic to native plants—think “chemical warfare”), making it a priority for removal. Once again this year, we have assembled a “task force” of volunteer interns to hand-pull this species over the next couple of months; we’ve already covered a lot of ground, and can tell that our efforts from previous years are paying off!
Do you have this plant on your property? Have you seen it around the watershed? Let us know! Contact Noah Jenkins, 503-652-7477 or noah@jcwc.org
