Hello fellow birders,
            With all the talk of invasive worms and invasive plants as of late I would like to talk about garlic mustard ( the plant I would like to see eliminated in this part of the country after phragmites ). Garlic mustard is a biennial plant.  Biennial plants live for two years. The first year they grow then die back in the winter. The next year the plant grows, flowers then S E E D S, at that point a single garlic mustard plant can produce several hundred seeds ( potentially hundred of new plants ) up to a distance of several yards. So in my opinion if there is a way to stop the plant from seeding that would be the most efficient way to apply resources to stop this plant.
            I was told about an old time method to kill plants this year. The ingredient is inexpensive, easy to apply, natural and is not harmful to the applicator. The magic word is : vinegar. The killing ingredient in vinegar is acetic acid. This acid works by drawing the moisture out of the leaf of the plant. No leaves, no plant. A simple plastic spray bottle ( at home improvement / hardware stores ) and a gallon of vinegar and garlic mustard does not stand a chance.
            We are all familiar with Magee Marsh. If it was not for the volunteer garlic mustard pickers ( I THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AT MAGEE ) seeing a skulker at Magee would probably be next to impossible. This infestation of the garlic mustard plant at Magee took about 7 years +/- ( my estimate ) and it is happening at many other places as well ( Metzger Marsh and Wendy Park are two examples ). If just half of the active birders did a little "spraying" at there favorite birding/nature location the enjoyment of that location can be what it was before garlic mustard arrived. Any comments feel free to contact me. May the birds be with you, Henry.



Adult and first year garlic mustard plant pictures can be seen at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/garlic_mustard.htm.  The first year plant is what needs to be killed. Apply vinegar carefully as it will kill any plant it comes in contact with.  Garlic mustard seeds remain viable for up to seven years. Get the plant before it seeds !

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