Q&A: Removing Garlic Mustard

Find out how to deal with this invasive and prolific weed

My garden is being taken over by garlic Indian mustard . How do I get disembarrass of it without killing everything else ? — Alex D’Angelo , Cherry Hill , New Jersey

Jody Mills , a plantsman and certified greenhouse professional from Penfield , New York , responds : The first step in eliminating the invasive smoke garlic leaf mustard ( Alliaria petiolata ) is to aright key out it . Garlic mustard is a fertile , biyearly herbaceous plant determine in more than 30 State Department , mainly in the Midwest and the East . of late , it has picture up in Washington , Utah , Colorado , Idaho , and British Columbia , according to the Nature Conservancy ’s Invasive Species Initiative .

In summer and decline of its first year , garlic mustard grow a leaf rose window that can easily go unnoticed and is often mistake for violets . This rosette , which remains green through the winter , can be as small as an inch or two across or as large as a dinner home plate .

The following spring , this weed emerges as a 2- to 3½-foot - tall efflorescence chaff . Triangular , toothed leaves are arranged alternately up the stem . Flowers are belittled and lily-white and have four flower petal ; by late spring , they produce long , slender seedpods call siliques . These bear the secret to garlic mustard ’s invasiveness : The silique on one plant can produce 7,000 seeds or more . Unfortunately , getting disembarrass of this weed is a painstaking task that may take several year .

Once you ’ve determined that garlic mustard is indeed terrorise your garden , your next dance step is to opt a method of removing it . Your objective is to foreclose come production . Desirable plants nearby may limit your options to cultural criterion such as cutting or hand - pull . Where endangerment to ornamental plant is n’t a problem , chemical control can be tot up to your arsenal . Products containing glyphosate ( found in products like Roundup ) may be employ anytime during the flora ’s growing rhythm but preferably before efflorescence .

If the plague is humble , your best pick is to hand - pull first - year little potato . Pull when the soil is moist so that the antecedent mass comes out with the leaves ( the plant can regrow from the roots leave behind ) . You also can turn over - pull the second - year flower stalks before seed is ready . Again , draw when the filth is moist , and dispose of pulled plants .

Cutting the flower shuck in spring before they raise ejaculate is also in force and may be more hardheaded for great infestations . Take guardianship to prune close to the ground ; if even a duo of foliage is go away , bloom can form at the base of the stalks and produce seed . As with hand - pulling , all debris should be bag and absent because flowers may still dissipate seed . press clipping may have to be repeated during the time of year , but eventually the plant life will melt down out of energy and die .

It may take several years of app to remove garlic mustard ; the seed can remain viable in the grease for up to five years . flora that natural spring up later may have originated from germ bring forth long before you began your campaign to carry off it . Ultimately , your efforts will give off .

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