Have you tried pulling garlic mustard yet? Once you start, it’s hard to stop!
Garlic mustard is going crazy at many SWMLC preserves! Can you help get it under control?
Are you looking for ways to give back to nature after all the ways it’s been there for us this past year? Pulling garlic mustard is easy to do and can truly make a difference, while also giving families the perfect excuse to spend time together in nature.
It’s easy to pull: just find the base of the plant, wiggle it around in the dirt a little to loosen it up, then pull the whole thing out, roots and all.
Because the seeds will continue to mature and disperse – even from pulled plants – we ask that you bring your own bag to fill, then take it with you to throw in the trash. (As a local non-profit with a very small staff and a very large, 9-county service area, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy is unable to provide bags and waste containers at our preserves.)
If no bags are available, twist the plant in your hands, wringing the root from the stems and leaves. If you’ve only pulled a few plants, just leave the parts on the trail where they will be stepped on. If you have quite a few, please create compact piles of plant parts beside the trail.

Some people love to eat garlic mustard!
European settlers brought garlic mustard with them because of its usefulness as a wound antiseptic and as a nutritious green food in early spring. We don’t recommend eating the garlic mustard that you pull from roadsides (too many potential hazardous chemicals) or from public places (such as SWMLC’s public preserves) because you just don’t know what other people or their dogs may have done. But it’s fine to eat the garlic mustard that’s pulled from private property – as long as you know for certain that it hasn’t been treated with herbicide or other chemicals.