• Garlic Mustard Plant

UPDATE: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - "Actually I found this plant in my yard. I found one of it then there were 100 of it then 500 of it, and I realized theres something weird about this plant," said Leslie Kuhn, the Coordinator for the Mid-Michigan Stewardship Initiative.

This plant is Garlic Mustard and it's spreading rapidly across Michigan.

Jane Greenway, the Parks and Land Management Coordinator said, "Once you know what it looks like you start noticing it everywhere, it's really annoying. Like on the sides of roads, in all of our parks and it just feels like such a big problem."

Each plant produces hundreds of seeds and they choke out the native wildflowers.

Meridian Township is trying to fight this sea and hopes to pull 200,000 pounds in this year's Garlic Mustard Challenge.
Residents can pull Garlic Mustard in their backyard, put it in a plastic bag, and put it in with their regular trash. Residents are asked to keep track and report how many bags pulled online at stewardshipnetwork.org.

You can tell it's Garlic Mustard by the white flowers with four petals and the heart shaped leaves that smell like garlic.

There are also group pulling events to help stop the spread in parks and natural areas.

The challenge ends July 6th and there are groups pulling almost every weekend until then. If you are interested in attending a group pull you can find the calendar of events at the Parks and Recreation Office or on the township website at meridian.mi.us.

ORIGINAL STORY: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Groups of volunteers gather every Saturday to help protect Michigan's ecosystems. Find out about the Garlic Mustard Challenge Monday on Meridian Magazine.