“There’s a lot of these things that we plant in our yards that are really spreading into the forest and shouldn’t be good,” she said.

“Invasive plants are really interesting from a biological perspective because they’re great at invading. We don’t like tha they’re good at it, but they’re very skilled at invading areas.” She said local Tennessee animals largely don’t eat them, so the plants steal space, sunlight and water from native plants that could grow in these areas. 

“You can really have a different understory once these invasives move in,” Herold said. 

This changes the local diversity of plants and insects, Herold said. Another volunteer at the Oak Ridge event, Regina Santore with the Wild Ones Smoky Mountains Chapter, called the insects that feed on native plants “baby bird food.” Santore said 95 percent of bird species feed on soft-bodied insects which can’t feed on exotic plants. 

“It’s up to all of us to remove non-native, invasive species from our ecosystem so that native plants have a chance to thrive and support our baby birds and other native animals,” she said. 

Apart from garlic mustard, Herold referenced other invasive plants. She cited infamous kudzu, which dominates hillsides as “the obvious poster child.” 

“It’s everywhere and when it takes over it really takes over,” she said. Other plants like Japanese honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle, privet and nandina are also invasive and block out native species.  

Herold recommended people to her organization’s website to learn more about how to identify these invasive plants. It also has information on how to landscape with native plants. She said people can look at their yards and see whether the plants currently in them can be invasive. 

Meanwhile in Oak Ridge, Herold and others are taking the problem into their own hands, literally, by pulling up garlic mustard.  

‘I’m really glad this event happens to kind of keep that garlic mustard at bay,” she said. The work of volunteers pulling it each year allows for people to see natural, native plants like celandine poppies and trilliums that people enjoy in the area. 

Trail steward Roger Macklin has been running the garlic mustard pull at the Wildflower Greenway for more than 20 years. 

“I wake up seeing the garlic mustard plant template in my mind,” he said regarding how well he knows the plant. He said 20 years ago it had a far greater range. He suspected apartment dwellers planted garlic mustard and used them as salad greens before they spread, blocking out room for other species.

“The less I find, the better I’ve done,” he said. 

“At some point I’ll have to find someone else to keep it going,” he said. But the trail, with its wildflowers, stream, deer and birds, is a passion for him. Protecting it from garlic mustard has brought him back year after year.

Trail Steward Roger Macklin has led garlic mustard pulls on Oak Ridge’s Wildflower Greenway Trail for years.  Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press