On Friday, April 28 from 9:30 AM to 2 PM the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is partnering with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC), Roan Mountain State Park, and the Cherokee National Forest to remove invasive garlic mustard from the park and heavily trafficked highways around Carver’s Gap and SAHC conservation properties in the Highlands of Roan. Plucking out the pesky invaders when they are young and tender is relatively less labor intensive and very rewarding work, but it does take a lot of hands! We would like to invite you to enjoy a day outside on the A.T. while lending a hand and helping fellow volunteers to protect the natural habitats and biodiversity found along the A.T. landscape.
Schedule:
9:30 AM to 9:45 PM - Introduction, safety talk, etc. Volunteers will be briefed, divided into groups, and dispersed across the Park and along public roadsides to pull garlic mustard. There will need to be some shuttling and driving of personal vehicles to make this happen.
9:45 AM to 1:00 PM – Pulling and bagging up garlic mustard!
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM – Lunch at the Conference Center and our official “weigh in”
Training, work gloves and trash bags will be provided. Please bring your own snacks, lunch and bottled water. Lunch is not provided. Water and light snacks are available from the Conference Center vending machines. Feel free to bring personal gloves or a trowel. Pulling garlic mustard is usually easy, but a trowel can be helpful for compacted roadside soil and stubborn roots. You will need a hat and/or sunscreen, long pants, sturdy shoes, lunch, water, a warm layer for high elevation hiking, and rain gear. It may be difficult to return to your car while we are working, so you may want a bag to keep your items with you throughout the day.
If you are allergic to poison ivy, consider wearing long sleeves and pants as a precaution. Some work sites are very steep. Please inform your trip leader before the workday if you prefer to work on flatter terrain or have medical conditions. First aid kits will be on site.
What is Garlic Mustard?
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an invasive, non-native plant, which has infested many parts of the Southern Appalachian region. Because it has few natural enemies in North America, it is capable of out-competing native plants by depriving them of sunlight, moisture and space. Garlic mustard is a biennial plant, meaning it has a two-year life cycle. In its first year, it develops kidney-shaped leaves that grow close to the ground in what is called a basal rosette; the leaves smell like garlic when crushed. In their second year, the plants rapidly grow upward and develop small white flowers. The flowers are soon replaced by slender seed pods, which are capable of spreading hundreds of seeds once mature. Garlic mustard is a hardy plant. If you pull the plant and leave it on the ground, it may re-root or have enough energy stored in its taproot to produce viable seed after being pulled. Most compost piles aren’t maintained in a way that gets hot enough to kill the seed, which means you could end up spreading garlic mustard with your compost (The Stewardship Network). Removing garlic mustard from thoroughfares such as Roan Mountain State Park and public roadsides is crucial to controlling the establishment and spread of this invasive species in our area.
