Shady Characters!

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE IN SHADE

The Garlic Mustard and Buckthorn Battle

 Since our home is located at the edge of the woods and we have a view of the woodland area from our family room window, it is my obsession to keep the area free of garlic mustard and buckthorn.  As a landscape designer and horticulturist at LAMMSCAPES!

it is my goal to keep the woodland edge as natural as possible, though I am not a purist with using native plantings.

Several future blogs will touch upon living in a naturally wooded and shaded yard.

 

We have lived in our home for thirteen years, and I began the battle with garlic mustard about eleven years ago.   All be-it naïve at the time we moved in, the “native” plant with the “pretty white spring flowers” seemed delightful.   Unfortunately, as I found out quickly, this plant became prolific and invasive.  See the photos below.

 

                                    Garlic Mustard

The buckthorn must not have been too bad when we moved in, because the kids could run freely in the woods, building their forts and getting around easily.   

Several years after living in our home, the kids became teenagers and chose organized sports over “playing in the woods”.   Suddenly, it seemed, the buckthorn became so thick it was difficult to get a few feet in to the woodland area. 

 

See photo below help to you ID buckthorn in your yard.

 

              

 

Stay tuned for future blogs topics on how to keep up with the never ending battle of keeping these two invasive plants at bay!

 

LoriAnne Haischer

LAMMSCAPES!  Horticulturist & Landscape Designer