Nature Done Wright

Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs

May 14, 2014

Please Don’t Pull Garlic Mustard Unless…

From what Marsh Warden Mike Limatola and I have seen on the trails at the Celery Farm recently, well-meaning folks are pulling Garlic Mustard and dropping it on the trail. Please stop.

If you see anybody else pulling garlic mustard, please ask them to stop as well.

Here's what you absolutely need to know about Garlic Mustard: Once it flowers, the plant retains the ability to produce seeds — even after it is pulled.

Thus, when you pull Garlic Mustard and leave it on the trail, folks walk on it and the soles of their shoes help disperse the seed throughout the refuge.

By all means, please pull the Garlic Mustard — but be sure to bag it, secure it, and put it in the trash (and not a mulch or compost pile).

A link to basic advice on pulling Garlic Mustard is here.

Or do a Google search and see for yourself. Thanks!