Calling all Agents: Waukesha County Parks needs you to help us restore and protect our parkland from invasive and aggressive plants!
Mission: To help control invasive Garlic Mustard in the parks through hand pulling and bagging. Rain or shine. Where: Muskego Park (directions) When: Saturday, May 18 • 9 am - Noon Special Agents: Open to volunteers of various skills and abilities. Dress for weather conditions; wear boots and bring your own work gloves. Adult supervision required for volunteers under age 18.
This fast-spreading weed is veryinvasive and is threatening natural areas throughout the park system. Garlic mustard starts growing earlier in the season than Wisconsin's other native plants and outcompetes them. It spreads rapidly in wooded areas, forming tall, dense stands that smother native wildflowers, and native tree and shrub seedlings.
Garlic mustard is a winter annual herb that generally grows 2-4 feet tall. The lower leaves are kidney-shaped with scalloped edges. Leaves feel hairless, and the root has an "S" or "L" shape just below the stem base. In spring, roots and new leaves smell like garlic, and small, four-petal white flowers appear clustered at stem ends, followed by long, skinny seedpods.
Garlic mustard spreads by seed and can self-pollinate. It can produce up to 500 seeds per plant, and the seeds can survive in the soil for up to 7 years, making it hard to eliminate.
Set up your own mini-Mission Possible in any park and on your schedule!
• May - July on any day or time sunrise – 10 pm. • You will receive a map of where to pull garlic mustard in the park(s) you select as well as an instructional training video.
