May 29, 2025

We had a nice time Sunday removing garlic mustard and beginning to clip DSV, as well as learning more about how to maximize our efforts to help native plants thrive. Our dedicated stewards Kriselle, Chimine, Bianca and Jamie pictured above determined this is a good spot to work in, because we can see plenty of goldenrods and virginia creeper (both native) which can take the place of the DSV in time. We also discovered a tiny oak sapling as well as a quaking aspen! Both are native and can hopefully outcompete the buckthorns, but DSV can often strangle them before they mature and get tall enough to fend for themselves. We made a perimeter around plants or saplings by clipping the DSV around them and we will continue to monitor these areas as clipping only stunts growth so we will need to repeat this several times over the season. I came upon several areas at our site where there used to be garlic mustard patches and some potentially native wood avens took over, or other native plants have moved in, so we are making good progress! If you are interested in what other plants we found, feel free to check out our iNaturalist project where anyone can contribute even outside of our events if you have a phone and app!

We confirmed that we did have several Giant Hogweed plants at our site, and 311 has reported that the plants have already been removed. We will confirm this at our next event, but will be extra cautious going forward regardless, as the plant may be present in other areas.