Showing posts with label invasives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label invasives. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Garlic Mustard removal tutorial

Garlic Mustard sounds like it might be delicious. It was originally brought to this country in the 1860's for culinary and medicinal use. However, I have not appreciated its taste at all. It's not toxic, just disgusting.

"Garlic mustard is an invasive non-native biennial herb that spreads by seed. It is difficult to control once it has reached a site; it can cross-pollinate or self-pollinate, it has a high seed production rate, it out competes native vegetation and it can establish in a relatively stable forest understory. It can grow in dense shade or sunny sites. The fact that it is self-fertile means that one plant can occupy a site and produce a seed bank. Plant stands can produce more than 62,000 seeds per square meter to quickly out compete local flora, changing the structure of plant communities on the forest floor." (source: here.) In otter words, it will completely take over everything. It is like a cancer. It is like The Little Prince's Baobabs, the roots of which threatened to break apart his tiny planet. It replicates itself inexorably like the Orcs in The Lord of the Rings that destroyed everything in their path. So, what to do? Here is a tutorial for your enjoyment.

Go out when the soil is crumbly and semi-moist, but not wet. Look for these "rosettes" as shown below- this is the first year plant (remember, it's a biennial- the first and second-year plants look different). The first-year plant is much easier to remove, having a less-developed root system.

Pull the plant gently but firmly, from the base where the stem and root meet. Make sure you are getting the whole root. The taproot, like a dandelion or a thistle (or a pimple, for that matter), must be completely removed or it will sprout anew. The root is "allelopathic," meaning it produces chemicals that inhibit the growth of tree seedlings and other plants. Garlic mustard is a playground bully, all around.Mission accomplished!

Janine from Gracious Gardens tells me that the "seed bank"- the seemingly inexhaustible supply of invasive weed seeds- remains stealthily waiting in the soil for up to seven years.
The seeds are tiny - remember the Biblical parable about "faith as small as a mustard seed?" Well then. You need to be careful to disturb the infested soil as little as possible due to the tiny seeds. Double bag the plants and make sure the bags do not have any holes. (Remember the seeds are tiny!!! They can be carried in clothing, shoes or mud. Be sure to clean shoes, pockets, cuffs and equipment after removing and bagging the plants. Dispose of plants in the trash, or burn. You do not want to compost this plant.

Stay vigilant, and repeat as necessary.

For more details, including managment with pesticides, see here.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earth Day

Funny how Earth Day is April 22nd- didn't it always used to be on the 21st? As in, typical Equinoxes and Solstices? As in the 1993 song "What Are We Gonna Do" by Dramarama?
It's April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day,
Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday
To whoever's being born
And now I'm trying hard to think of something meaningful and worthy,
Kind of earthy to make everybody ask themselves just
What are we doing here?
And what are we doing to 'her'?
You know I end up randomly singing a lot of songs (sorry, neighbors), and this is one of 'em, any time of year. I never realized how full of existential angst the lyrics are until I cut and pasted them just now.

On a more hopeful note, what I actually meant to write for today was a quote from my mom this past Saturday, after her condo complex did a noxious weed cleanup of their pond. Now, the complex she lives in is mostly older people, most with mobility problems or health issues. "See how beautiful the area of our pond looks. We had a beautiful day and good turnout for our cleanup!!! People who I thought were going to come didn't while others who I did not expect to help did. One couple who live by the pond but are unable to help physically, put out coffee and doughnuts and offered their bathroom for us to use." She later added, "Forgot to mention that one of the men helping yesterday was 2 years post lung transplant. Did not expect to see him come down to help." She sent a photo of the cleaned-up area- so different than the invasive weed-choked area that it was last year. Awesome!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Upcoming events


Putting these down the drain means drinking them later.
April 18th, 2009, is Medicine Collection Day- residents of Milwaukee County can bring unused meds to the Miller Park lot by the Sausage Haus. Never put unused meds down any toilet, sink, or drain- water treatment plants are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Don't worry that the racing sausages are going to get high on your unused Oxycontin: all medicine collected will be destroyed by law enforcement or a federally licensed incinerator. You can bring prescription or over-the-counter medication, ointments, sprays, inhalers, creams, vials and pet medications. For more information (including neighboring counties' dropoff sites), see the MMSD web site. You and your loved ones don't want to be swimming in or drinking other people's Ortho Tri-Cyclen or Abilify, or eating fish that did either.

Earth Day cleanups- Saturday, April 18th, in Kletzsch Park (meet at 0830)- rain or shine- dress appropriately; also, the Milwaukee Riverkeeper's river cleanups are occurring at multiple sites the same day- see their website for more information.


Save the date for the first annual MRPA Lincoln Park cleanup, Saturday, May 16th- meet at Solly's at 0800. Further details forthcoming.


Kletzsch Park Weedouts- invasive species removals every Saturday in May from 0900 to noon. Wear suitable clothing for moving in the brush. Meet at the Pavilion at 6560 Milwaukee River Parkway. Help keep our Wisconsin treasure, the Trillium, from being overtaken by evil garlic mustard. Trilliums in Kettle Moraine, photo taken May 2007.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Call to everyone who wants the dam out


To everyone who signed a petition to remove the Estabrook Dam, I'll see you out on the banks every weekend in the coming summers doing stabilization and planting suitable native species to keep the inevitable carpet of buckthorn and the subsequent underlayer of garlic mustard at bay. Oh? You thought you just would get to fish? Sorry. You're not really signing a petition--it's a long-term work contract. See you there!