Garden Designers Roundtable: Get the Weeds Out!

Possibly the least glamorous task for a gardener is weeding. Weeds are the blemishes on the otherwise beautiful complexions of our landscapes, but unless the gardener pays attention to these unsightly and tenacious plants, our gardens will be lost to them. Taking the time to thoroughly comb through our desirable plants for thistles, dandelions, and little buckthorn seedlings is essential to the beauty and longevity of our gardens. One pesky plant that many Midwestern gardeners are fighting right now is garlic mustard (Alliara petiolata.) It is a rampant invader of mostly woodland areas, but it tolerates sunny sites, too. It is a biennial, but the fact that one plant can produce between 350-7900 seeds translates into rapid spread. Patches can spread an average of about 20 feet per year, expanding as much as 120 feet in one year. When established, garlic mustard becomes a permanent member of the plant community, often dominating the ground layer habitat over extensive areas. Prior to seed production, flowering garlic mustard plants can easily be pulled and soil removed from the roots. Plants should be disposed of in a compost facility for invasive plants or left to decompose on site in an area that they will dry out and not re-root. If plants are discovered after seed production, the area shouldn’t be entered to avoid spreading seed, but that area should be weeded carefully the following spring. Large infestations of garlic mustard can also be treated with a 1.5% solution of glyphosate, if desirable plants are not at risk.