Garlic Mustard is a swift-spreading invasive weed that thrives in and along woodlands. In a matter of several years, garlic mustard can crowd out an entire forest floor of wildflowers, ferns, and sedges, creating a dense mat of weeds.
First year plants have rounded to kidney shaped leaves. Second year plants have larger toothed, heart shaped leaves. Bloom time is May/June with numerous white flowers about ¼ in wide, four separate peters in clusters at the top of the stem.
There is a strong odor of onion or garlic when the plant is rubbed or crushed. Garlic mustard produces abundant seeds that are spread through animal fur, flowing water, wind, or by human activities.
To control its spread, plants must be pulled, including roots, from mid-may to mid-June and removed in plastic bags for disposal. Its grows in dense stands or beds, in gardens, walkways, trails, roadsides, and the Conservancy.
Lois Morava, 2002 KNC Newsletter