By Renee Larr
The Zionsville Parks and Recreation Dept. is inviting residents to “Pull for Parks” this April to help keep the invasive garlic mustard plant from overtaking other plants.
For the last several years the department has organized workdays for church, Scouts, business and other groups to remove the plant from the ground, but this year individuals are invited to help out as well.
“Unfortunately, we do have some invasive species of plants in our parks. We try to manage the best we can,” said Mindy Murdock, Zionsville park naturalist and manager. “We often have maintenance companies that will come out and spray, but we’re looking for ways to get the community involved.”
Murdock will notify volunteers to schedule a pull when weather conditions are favorable.
“We’ll send out an email to all those individuals and have them meet us at a certain park,” Murdock said.
Even those who don’t know what garlic mustard looks like are invited to participate.
“If they haven’t really seen garlic mustard, we’ll show them what it looks like and how to go about pulling it,” Murdock said. “You don’t have to have a green thumb, because you’re not trying to keep them alive. You’re pulling them out of the ground.”
Those interested in volunteering or scheduling a group workday may contact Murdock at [email protected] or 873-8950.
