Operation Garlic Mustard Dawn

I recently attended Operation Garlic Mustard Dawn, an event hosted by the Aspetuck Land Trust (ALT) to raise awareness of invasive plants. Catchy name. In this age of 24/7 noise, you need to do something to get people’s attention. News12, Hersam-Acorn newspapers and Connecticut Gardener were invited.

The Aspetuck Land Trust, a non-profit, manages 1,723 acres in Easton, Fairfield, Weston and Westport.

The event focused on two specific invasives: Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) and Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). Volunteers pulled garlic mustard and Curt Naser demonstrated a professional, two-part approach to barberry removal. Naser cut the barberry near ground level with a brush saw and burned the remaining plant with a flame weeder. Naser is trained in the procedure, which took place on a rainy day at
 the LeGallienne Bird Sanctuary in Weston.

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, UConn, Bugwood.org Garlic mustard's first year's growth is a basal rosette. White flowers appear in the second year.

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, UConn, Bugwood.org

Garlic mustard's first year's growth is a basal rosette. White flowers appear in the second year.

Garlic mustard leaves give off a strong garlic odor when crushed and the spikes with white flowers are easy to spot. First-year growth is a basal rosette. Flowers appear in the second year. The plant is allelopathic and produces chemicals that inhibit the mycorrhizal fungi that many plants require for optimal growth. It can also fool some butterflies into laying eggs because of its similarity to native species.

Left: Curt Naser cuts barberry to the ground with a brush saw. Right: Naser burns the remaining plant with a flame weeder.

Left: Curt Naser cuts barberry to the ground with a brush saw. Right: Naser burns the remaining plant with a flame weeder.

Japanese Barberry is a public health concern because barberry infested forests are more likely to harbor ticks that carry the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme disease is a serious public health problem in Connecticut.

A press release describes the project as “a pilot program aimed at awakening public understanding of the risks posed to conserved areas and homeowner property alike by invasive plant species.”

ALT has developed a three-prong plan:

• Identification and risk assessment

• Responsible plant eradication

• Habitat restoration

“Spring is the best time to start,” said Lisa Brodlie, ALT vice president and chair of its Land Management Committee. “Plants are young and easy to identify and remove.” Procedures get more complicated once the plants produce seed.

ALT is looking to partner with volunteers, like-minded groups and municipalities. As the project progresses, the plan is to create a database and add information on the management of invasives to its website, www.aspetucklandtrust.org

“The social costs of invasive species to biodiversity in our ecology are enormous,” said Brodlie.

If you’d like to help, call (203) 331-1906 or email David Brant, ALT’s executive director, at dbrant@aspetucklandtrust.org

-- Will Rowlands

Snow & Evergreens

Hedges of hemlock, arborvitae and yew guard the periphery of our yard. The picture wasn’t pretty the morning after the recent blizzard. They really looked like they needed help. The yew hedge, in particular, had taken a beating. I know some people are hesitant but, on occasion, it’s necessary. This was one of those times. The yew hedge below was simply crying out for help. I might be out there again tomorrow if the meteorologists are right.

Before

After

At our previous place I had to clear hollies that bent right over to the ground when loaded with snow. We also inherited a bamboo grove that I also used to clear of snow. At the time I also considered myself a bamboo weaver. I would “reweave” the bamboo for air and aesthetic effect.

Before you begin the process of freeing your evergreens from the grip of a big snow, you need to consider the risks versus the rewards. The process will probably cause some damage, depending on the plant, instruments and degree of care you use. If you’ve got a lot of ice, you should probably just hope for a thaw.

I’ve experimented with different tools over the years. A light brushing motion with your hands or a broom is often recommended. Those are good approaches but may not work so well with large amounts of heavy snow or in hard-to-reach spots.

At first, I tried the convex side of a large plastic snow shovel. I didn’t hit the snow but rather used a soft upward pushing motion. This year, I tried a long piece of flexible PVC. Again, I didn’t whack at the snow as if I was beating a rug but rather, using the poles flex, set it to moving back and forth slightly in as gentle a manner as possible. I was surprised how well this technique loosened up heavy blobs of snow.

Using a flexible pole to remove snow from hemlocks.

The pole did no damage to the hemlocks or the arborvitae. There was, however, some minimal damage to the yew hedge in the form of small bits and pieces here and there. This is consistent with my past experience. No matter what tool I use on the yews, there always seems to be some damage. On the plus side, the damage is extremely minor in the scope of things and has never resulted in any noticeable harm to the hedge in the long run.

The major advantage of the pole is that I can get at hard-to-reach areas. I also found that I could free most of the low-lying snow-covered branches by sliding the pole underneath and applying gentle upward pressure. This worked particularly well on the hemlocks where there was no extra snow from plows or shoveling.

Of course, if the lower branches are really snowed in you’ll have to remove the overlying snow first. This was the case with the arborvitae and yew and, after a day or two of waffling, I decided I had to dig them out.

The next time, I’ll probably use my hands and/or a broom on the easy spots and a gingerly applied flexible pole here and there as required.

Just remember three things:

1) Leave them alone unless there's a lot of snow,

2) Whatever technique you use, be as gentle as possible to minimize damage, and

3) Observe the results of your work and stop if you’re doing more harm than good.

I’ve also changed my approach to shoveling. In our yard, there isn’t much room to put the snow from our driveway. It’s OK most of the time but it becomes a problem after a couple of big snows. I’ve started to use a wheelbarrow to wheel it away to another part of the yard.