Garlic Mustard Control - Ask Extension
Hello, I am looking for best practices to eradicate garlic mustard in my yard. I realize that this may not be the best time of year, but hope to get a...
Knowledgebase
Garlic Mustard Control #877497
Asked July 16, 2024, 3:19 PM EDT
Hello, I am looking for best practices to eradicate garlic mustard in my yard. I realize that this may not be the best time of year, but hope to get a head start on controlling it for next year.
I am also seeing an increasing amount of garlic mustard in my town (Jericho). Do you know of larger-scale efforts to control its spread?
If this is not the best place to submit this question, can you please direct it to someone else in Extension? Thanks!
Chittenden County Vermont
Expert Response
Hello Wendy, and thank you for contacting us at the UVM Extension Master Gardener Program. Your type of question is exactly why we are here!
Garlic mustard is a biennial, a plant that completes its growing cycle over two years. The first year is a low mound of leaves, and the second year has the flowers and seeds. While spring is the ideal time to pull these - before any plants flower and go to seed - pulling the plants and carefully bagging the flowers and seed heads at any time of year will help to reduce its spread. It should not be composted.
Garlic mustard is another one of those pesky plants whose seeds can sit dormant in the soil for many years before sprouting, so even if you pull all the plants from an area (leaving a bit of root is fine - they will not resprout from roots left in the ground) you will likely need to repeat the process over several years until the dormant seeds are exhausted.
This plant has been expanding its territory around the state, and I recall local news stories in 2018 - before the COVID pandemic - discussing the growing problem of its spread. (I'm not aware of large-scale efforts to reduce its spread beyond the informational and educational materials here.) It is on the VT Invasives List, identified as a Class B Noxious Weed https://vtinvasives.org/invasive/garlic-mustard. Be sure to explore all the material included on those pages, as clicking on each of the green and then blue stripes on the site above will provide more information, including a table under "Mechanical Treatment Options".
That link from VT Invasives includes recommendations for dealing with garlic mustard and a few other online resources.
To their links, I'll add these for additional information:
University of Minnesota Extension
https://extension.umn.edu/identify-invasive-species/garlic-mustard
Penn State Extension
https://extension.psu.edu/garlic-mustard
Michigan State Extension (also on the VT Invasives site...but I don't want you to miss it!)
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/Invasive_species/garlic_mustard/management_options
(Please note that some of these mention chemical applications, which may not be registered in the state of Vermont. Our preferred approach is that of Integrated Pest Management, prioritizing non-chemical control and techniques whenever possible.)
You are wise to start addressing the plants in your yard now, and expecting to need to continue it for a few more years to eradicate it.
I wish you luck with your efforts to reclaim your soils for native plants. Just let us know if you have additional questions.
Thanks for your note,
Garlic mustard is a biennial, a plant that completes its growing cycle over two years. The first year is a low mound of leaves, and the second year has the flowers and seeds. While spring is the ideal time to pull these - before any plants flower and go to seed - pulling the plants and carefully bagging the flowers and seed heads at any time of year will help to reduce its spread. It should not be composted.
Garlic mustard is another one of those pesky plants whose seeds can sit dormant in the soil for many years before sprouting, so even if you pull all the plants from an area (leaving a bit of root is fine - they will not resprout from roots left in the ground) you will likely need to repeat the process over several years until the dormant seeds are exhausted.
This plant has been expanding its territory around the state, and I recall local news stories in 2018 - before the COVID pandemic - discussing the growing problem of its spread. (I'm not aware of large-scale efforts to reduce its spread beyond the informational and educational materials here.) It is on the VT Invasives List, identified as a Class B Noxious Weed https://vtinvasives.org/invasive/garlic-mustard. Be sure to explore all the material included on those pages, as clicking on each of the green and then blue stripes on the site above will provide more information, including a table under "Mechanical Treatment Options".
That link from VT Invasives includes recommendations for dealing with garlic mustard and a few other online resources.
To their links, I'll add these for additional information:
University of Minnesota Extension
https://extension.umn.edu/identify-invasive-species/garlic-mustard
Penn State Extension
https://extension.psu.edu/garlic-mustard
Michigan State Extension (also on the VT Invasives site...but I don't want you to miss it!)
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/Invasive_species/garlic_mustard/management_options
(Please note that some of these mention chemical applications, which may not be registered in the state of Vermont. Our preferred approach is that of Integrated Pest Management, prioritizing non-chemical control and techniques whenever possible.)
You are wise to start addressing the plants in your yard now, and expecting to need to continue it for a few more years to eradicate it.
I wish you luck with your efforts to reclaim your soils for native plants. Just let us know if you have additional questions.
Thanks for your note,
