Garlic Mustard Removal at the Fen

In the first three garlic mustard workdays this year we have cleared the scattered small patches of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket in Trillium Management Area north of the rookery and are now into the big thick patch in the corner.

When removing invasives you are supposed to do the scattered patches first and the thickest, worst areas last. This is because the areas that are solid with invasives will only expand slowly, at the edges, but many small patches will each expand at their perimeters and can quickly infest a large area.

There are many small patches of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket between the pitcher plants and the rookery. Next week we will start at the edge of the woods by the pitcher plants and work our way in. When we get to the thick patch in the corner, we will then spend the rest of May reducing it. There isn't much garlic mustard in here and the Dame's Rocket that is left will be further reduced by cold weather herbiciding this fall and winter, when the natives are dormant.

Since next year's garlic mustard flowers come from this year's seedlings, and we aren't pulling seedlings since most of them die by themselves during the summer, there will be just as much garlic mustard in Trillium next year as there was this year. There will be much less Dame's Rocket and Honeysuckle because these aren't as prolific so we might be able to finish Trillium before the end of the season next year.

After Trillium is complete the next priority is a small area of floodplain forest that Russell has found near Sutton Road and near an old tractor and near a bog. It has many wildflowers and not too much garlic mustard. Only Russell has seen it but it sounds interesting. Priority for future areas will go to places with many wildflowers, less severe garlic mustard infestation, and places that are adjacent to areas already cleared or where we have cleared the woody invasives but not the garlic mustard.

The Island

The Island is an island on the north end of Ives Road Fen Preserve. It is surrounded partly by the River Raisin and partly by a channel.

In 2004 the seasonal staff of four, with volunteer help, worked for weeks to clear it of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket. In 2005 and 2006 the volunteers worked on the island for all of April and May, the garlic mustard pulling season. Last year on the last workday they just cleared it (or didn't quite clear it-I missed that workday). We expected that this year it would take just as much time, although it seemed last year that in many of the places we were pulling there weren't any seedlings, which was interesting at the time, but we didn't want to get our hopes up.

When I went to scout out the area for our first workday, there was hardly any garlic mustard on the island!! I cleared the north half of the island by myself in about a day and Sam and I will probably finish the south half on Monday. Partly this is a result of thorough, methodical, persistant pulling every year. We start at the same place every year and follow the same route every year, pulling every plant. Several times during the season we walk the area that has already been pulled and get the ones that were missed or broke off at the ground and later came up. Leaving only a few plants can largely negate the value of your work because those few plants can produce thousands of seeds.

In addition to the thorough pulling, there has been some cold season herbicide spraying. For this to be effective without doing damage to the natives, you need to spray in late fall or winter when the native plants are dormant but garlic mustard rosettes are visible. The garlic mustard needs to be growing so you need a day above 50 degrees. You also need for the plants to not be covered by snow or have all the leaves frozen off. A winter day that is above 50 may be due to warm air currents from the Gulf of Mexico. Besides warm air, these currents can carry rain, making herbiciding on that day ineffective. Even with these obstacles, the herbiciding can reduce big patches to scattered individuals and eliminate a lot of individual plants. You still need hand pulling in the spring to mop up the ones missed by herbiciding but with far fewer plants you can cover more ground.

With the island now clear, we will spend this season working in Trillium Management Area south of The Island. This is a large area with garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket dispersed throughout but none of the patches are as big or as dense as what was on the island so we hope to cover a lot of ground. Garlic mustard in this area was also herbicided during the winter.

PussyWillow Fen

Pussywillow Fen is the temporary name we have given to the fen south of the Volunteer Management Unit. It is named that due to the large Pussywillows growing in it. We know it is a fen because of the large amount of Shrubby Cinquefoil growing there. There are many buckthorn trees, an invasive, and willow and dogwood, native shrubs. There is one large open area near the river, a few small open areas in the interior, a narrow open strip at the bottom of the hill and small numbers of natives such as Marsh Marigold, Skunk Cabbage, Spicebush, Ninebark, Swamp Thistle, Joe-Pye Weed, and Godenrod interspersed among the area overgrown by shrubs. Since this area is too big to attack all at once, a trail was made through it cutting off a piece on the north end. Our strategy will be to work north from the trail until we have eliminated all the buckthorn between the trail and the volunteer management unit, then cut off more sections until finally the whole area is clear. There may be a controlled burn some year. Today we greatly widened the area on both sides of the trail between the first two brushpiles, connected the area between the two brushpiles, and broke through to a small open area south of the trail. There are enough natives already here that the area can regenerate naturally without any seeding being necessary. This area will be our main cold season work area after Vaughn Woods is finished. Tom Turkey and Campbell Strip is still the main priority for this coming summer. I will make regular visits to Pussywillow Fen this summer to spray any sprouts and control the buckthorn seedlings that sometimes germinate in large numbers the first year that a buckthorn area is opened up.

Today we saw Pussywillow, Spicebush, and Skunk Cabbage in bloom, a praying mantis egg case, Swamp Thistle and Marsh Marigold seedlings, garlic mustard on the hill, a giant buckthorn trunk, and got to smell Skunk Cabbage and Spicebush.

Spring Honeysuckle Cutting on the Side of the Hill Day

The woods we cut in today have been degraded by years of honeysuckle growth but there are two other reasons for clearing invasives here. One is that the fen below is still in fairly good shape and the honeysuckle was so thick that it was hard to get to the fen or to see it to be inspired. The other is that if the fen is cleared but the hill above is covered with invasives, the invasives can come back in. Honeysuckle doesn't usually grow in wet areas and buckthorn usually doesn't grow in dry areas but we did cut some buckthorn on the hill today and there is honeysuckle on the fen-forest interface. Multi-flora rose, which we cut some of today, grows vigorously in both habitats. Long term, getting rid of the honeysuckle allows native trees, shrubs, and flowers to regenerate. The fen that we cleared access to is south of the volunteer area. During the regular work season we will work north from the volunteeer area to eventually link up with the crew working south. Today's piece of the fen will be worked on piecemeal in the winter. Last year we didn't get to it at all and this year half a dozen clumps of buckthorn have been cleared so far. It will be the top priority in the few weeks before garlic mustard season starts in a few weeks. It would be nice to burn this area on the same day that we burn the volunteer unit to knock back the dogwood. No burn is scheduled here this year but in a few years when the volunteer unit recovers further we could have a good one.

Wildflower Conference and Educators Workshop

The WAM (Wildflower Association of Michigan-not part of The Nature Conservancy) will hold a conference on the MSU campus in East Lansing on March 4 and 5. Both days start with bagels and coffee and have an optional luncheon with speaker. March 4 is the Educator's Workshop with discussions on topics such as raising funds, school site development, native plant gardening, and invasive plant control. The day concludes with the WAM annual meeting and birthday bash. Topics on March 5 include native landscapes, Environmental Effects of Invasive Species, Monarchs and Milkweeds, "Gardening with Native Plants to Attract Birds" and "Michigan Trees and Shrubs for Homeowners". Let me know if you are interested and I can send you the full agenda and a registration form. The registration fee gets higher as the start date approaches.

Great idea Chuck

This will be a great idea for all of us to keep up on what is happening at the fen. I stopped down yesterday and cut some of the "medium" sized black locusts for a few hours. I think we should try and drill-and-fill any of them bigger than "medium". What does everyone else think about that idea?

Farm Machinery

Vaughn Woods, the management area where the volunteers are working this winter, used to be the machinery graveyard for the farmer who owned it. There is an old baler there and other pieces of equipment that have nothing left but a rusty frame partly buried in the ground. I put a little information about these in the last workday report and Judy Holcomb suggested that I try to sell them on E-bay or to the Lenawee County Farmers' Antique Tractor and Engine Association. The baler is listed on E-bay now. If we make enough profit on that sale to buy refreshments for a few workdays, I will list the other pieces. Otherwise I will offer them for free to the Antique Tractor Association or Freecycle them. There is also a scrap metal dealer who claims to pick up or as a last resort, the landfill.