only on decorahnews.com: Winning the battle against garlic mustard

Volunteers work at weeding

The citizen effort to eliminate garlic mustard plants from Decorah's parks is paying off.  That's the opinion of Decorah resident Mary Lewis, who organized another garlic mustard removal effort over the weekend.

Lewis pointed to hillside areas that used to be covered by the invasive plant, but now are mostly barren of the plant.  "We're making tremendous progress," she told decorahnews.com.

The weeding effort was first started by Decorah High School science teacher Larry Berland and his classes in the 1990s.  Lewis organized the first community weeding in 2004.

She says it's not just a case of doing the weeding, but knowing where to concentrate efforts.  Garlic mustard plants are spread by deer and humans walking through patches of the plants, having seeds stick to them and then dropping off further down a trail.  The seeds can also be moved by water.

Lewis says the secret is getting to the plants before they blossom into seeds.  That's what brought out a group of volunteers near Palisades Park over the weekend.

If you'd like to help in the effort to eradicate garlic mustard, you can contact Mary Lewis at marmax@mchsi.com of (563) 382-6349 or you can contact Friends of Decorah Parks president Ellen McDonald at ellenmac11@gmail.com or (563) 419-0339

Steve Matter volunteers

Garlic mustard has long roots