Beware! Garlic Mustard
***Save our Forests and Pollinators***
Garlic mustard is coming up now in yards all over our community
Why is it so important to pull, bag, and dispose of Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)? GM was brought to North America as a medicinal and culinary herb by European. In the mustard family, all parts of the plant emit a garlic odor. It’s been here for a long time, but GM is has reproduced successfully and is destroying forests and killing butterflies in 34 states, ranging from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to the Mid-west and into the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
Garlic mustard has displaced native wildflowers such as Spring beauty, Wild ginger, Bloodroot, Trillium, and Toothworts in vast forested areas. This is because it grows so vigorously in early spring and fall that it out-competes them. Also, this weed is not eaten by any insects or animals in North America — unlike in its native Europe, where browsing by herbivores and munching by insects keeps it under control.
Seemingly innocent, Garlic mustard is toxic to our soil and to caterpillars
Several butterfly species have become threatened because their wildflower hosts are now rare due to incursion by Garlic mustard. Other butterflies are endangered because they lay their eggs on GM instead of on their host plants, and GM’s leaves poison their larvae.
Also, Garlic mustard taints the soil with toxins, inhibiting forest tree regeneration. Within 10 years of its arrival in an area, garlic mustard can take over the forest floor.
Patches of Garlic mustard are common along roadsides and in the woods
On this iNaturalist map, you can see just some of the locations where Garlic mustard has been spotted in our Franklin Park & Forest community.
It's very easy to pull up, especially after it rains. Just grab it by the base and tug gently but firmly and make sure you get the tap root. Then BAG IT and dispose of it. If you don't, the plant can continue to produce and disperse its seeds even after you've pulled it up — so don't leave it lying around and do NOT compost it!
Please make sure you remove any Garlic mustard you find before the flowers set seed. Each individual plant can produce thousands of seeds! And the seeds remain viable in soil for up to five years, making this a difficult job if not taken care of when it’s first spotted.
Garlic mustard rapidly takes over the forest floor
Garlic mustard is classified as a HIGH invasive risk on the Virginia Invasive Species Plant List from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
More information:
Blue Ridge Prism Fact Sheet - GM
Fairfax County Park Authority Citizen's Guide to Non-Native Invasive ID and Control
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Invasive Plants Information