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Village volunteers battle invasive plant
(by Sali McSherry - August 04, 2010)
Village volunteers battle invasive plant
By SALI McSHERRY
Garlic mustard has been called "Jack-by-the-hedge," "poor man's mustard" or "sauce alone." And it is killing other plants.
An aggressive grower, it vastly outpaces native plants and wildflowers, said Kris Tesar, a member of the Moreland Hills parks commission. It is highly invasive by virtue of being a prolific seeder, she said, and, most importantly, it is alellopathic, meaning it emits chemicals that interfere with the growth of other plants and trees. It literally could wipe out an entire forest over the course of a decade, she said.
Brought over as a cooking spice from parts of Africa, garlic mustard, due to its aggressive growing, removes native specifies and reduces the food chain for animals, parks commission chairman Daniel Fritz.
Mrs. Tesar said the best time to remove it is in the early spring, before the seed pods mature.
As part of Moreland Hills' agreement with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which worked with the village to attain the 124-acre property as a passive park, a "walking inspection" is done every year, Mr. Fritz said. Volunteers look for infringement from bordering yards in the Quail Hollow housing development and Chagrin River Road for invasive species among other issues. The park entrance is on Chagrin River Road between Chagrin Boulevard and South Woodland Road (Route 87).
Once it was determined that there was a profusion of garlic mustard at the park, members of the commission, Village Council, village service department, Mayor Susan C. Renda and about 20 residents volunteered to remove it from the park in the spring. About 400 pounds of garlic mustard were removed, Mrs. Renda said.
It is one more example of the village's close partnership with the land conservancy, Mr. Fritz said, and the commitment to keeping the park maintained in a sound manner.
While springtime is the best time to remove garlic mustard, said Mrs. Tesar, who lives in Quail Hollow, "vigilance is still valuable as people work in their yards and hike through the many beautiful green spaces" in the Chagrin Valley. "We can limit the spread of the now dispersed seeds by checking our feet and pant cuffs after walking through the trails and by not composting the plant if we pull it in our yards. It should be carefully pulled with the roots intact, placed in sealed and labeled black plastic bags and put out with the trash," she said.
"Education is key to control," Mrs. Tesar said." My job is to help people identify the plant and to provide instructions for removal." The village sent a letter and fact sheet to all Quail Hollow residents with pictures of the plant and instructions, she said.
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