MinervaFlora - June Updates

REPLACING GARLIC MUSTARD (Alliara petiolata) WITH NATIVE PLANTS

Native to Europe and Asia, garlic mustard is a biennial flowering plant in the mustard family. Their first year, clumps of round, scalloped leaves develop, which when crushed smell of garlic, as does the rest of the plant. In the second year, spike-like stems elongate to 12-18” and produce cross-shaped white flowers. In mid-summer, once flowering is complete, the plants produce upright fruit that releases seed. The plant must be removed before seed dispersal. 

It was brought to America in the 1800s and has culinary and medicinal uses. It can be found in the forest understory, along roadsides and in disturbed, shaded habitats. Garlic mustard (also called hedge garlic or poor man’s mustard) offers minimal wildlife benefit here, and is toxic to rare butterfly species such as Pieris oleracea and Pieris virginiensis, that typically lay eggs on native mustard. It’s known to inhibit ectomycorrhizal fungi (a form of symbiotic relationship with the roots of various species).

Relatively easy to remove by hand-pulling the shallow roots (especially in damp soil), preferably of the first year plant in spring and definitely before seed dispersal. Place in trash, not compost.

Once removed, good native plants to fill its space  are:

-Foamflower (Tiarella cordiformis) mounds of heart shaped leaves with pale blooms on stalks.

-Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans) with a compound leaf and lovely blue-purple flowers.

-Golden ragwort (Packera aurea), an aggressive spreader that will crowd out garlic mustard and is semi-evergreen and produces bright yellow flowers in spring.

If you are interested in planting native, check out FSWCD’s Community Backyards Rebate Program. Once you participate in the educational requirement of the program, you receive a voucher, pick a rebate and redeem it at a local participating vendor. Also check out Homegrown National Park, a terrific idea from entomologist Doug Tallamy.