Garlic Mustard Challenge 2010
The Winners
Results
Photos
Thanks to our Sponsors
What's Next?
This year's garlic mustard challenge was a huge success! Over the course of the challenge:
- 671 volunteers worked at ...
- 43 events in ...
- 19 different Montgomery County Parks and volunteers removed ...
- 10,644 pounds(over 5 TONS!) of garlic mustard!
Many heartfelt thanks to all our amazing volunteers for their time, energy, and efforts to help save the forests by removing tons of garlic mustard from parkland!
The Garlic Mustard Challenge is a county-wide competition sponsored by the Montgomery County Department of Parks to help save the forest and weed out garlic mustard—one of the most invasive non-native plants taking over your parks!
Garlic Mustard EXTREME! 
David Muhlbaum, our Certified Weed Warrior EXTREME, ran a personal EXTREME garlic mustard pull!
What is so extreme you ask?
David worked pulling GM along the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) from the crack-o-dawn until 6 PM! That is 12 hours of pulling garlic mustard and he pulled 420 pounds of the weed – that really is EXTREME! David cleared the garlic mustard along the CCT from the DC line up to the 6 mile markers as wide as 10 feet or so on each side of the trail. This effort made him the “top dog” garlic mustard eradicator for 2010. By the way – he won our 2009 Garlic Mustard Challenge too – but he out did himself this year! David’s efforts won his family of 4 tickets to a FREEDOM professional women’s’ soccer game!!
The Winners!
Greatest amount pulled by a group or family per person:
- First Place: All State Office of Clarksburg at Little Bennett Regional Park pulling 375 pounds - that’s 53.6 pounds per participant!!
- Second Place: The Perlroth group at Black Hill Regional Park pulling 153 pounds - that’s 38.25 pounds per participant!
- Third Place: Erin and Lauren at Meadowside Nature Center pulling 103 pounds – that’s 34.33 pounds per participant!
- Fourth Place: Trinity United Methodist at Maydale Nature Center pulling 258.5 pounds – that’s 25.9 pounds per participant!
- Fifth Place: Our Senior Group (average age about 80 years old!!) that worked at CCT- Herry, Ruth and Ted pulling 75 pounds – that’s 28.3 pounds per person!!!!!
Greatest amount pulled by an individual:
- First place: David Muhlbaum at Capital Crescent Trail pulling 420 pounds!!
- Second place: Larry Hush at Rachel Carson Greenway at Burnt Mills pulling 97 pounds!
- Third place: Yunes at Brookside Nature Center pulling 57 pounds – he’s middle school student!
- Fourth place: Bob Ellett at Tilden Woods Local Park pulling 48 pounds!
- Fifth place: Sara Joyce at McKenney Hills Neighborhood Park pulling 45 pounds – she gets extra green points for riding her bike to the park to pull garlic mustard!!
Results
2010 Results |
# of |
Lbs. Pulled |
Audubon Naturalist Woodend Sanctuary (Joining our effort!) |
10 |
70 |
Black Hill Regional Park |
7 |
166 |
Brookside Gardens |
15 |
140 |
Brookside Nature Center (multiple events) |
31 |
382 |
Capital Crescent Trail (multiple events) |
33 |
985 |
Capital View Homewood Park (GM free!) |
13 |
100 |
Flower Valley Neighborhood Park |
40 |
297 |
Indian Spring Terrace Local Parks (GM free!) |
6 |
30 |
Little Bennett Regional Park (multiple events) |
41 |
985 |
Little Falls Stream Valley Park (multiple events) |
32 |
500 |
Locust Grove Nature Center (multiple events) |
24 |
243 |
Maydale Park (multiple events) |
70 |
1234 |
McKenney Hill Local Park |
30 |
341 |
Meadowside Nature Center |
37 |
373 |
Meadowbrook Park along Rock Creek Stream Valley |
15 |
180 |
Rachel Carson Greenway Trail (multiple events |
27 |
414 |
Rock Creek SVP along Beach Drive (multiple events) |
125 |
1028 |
Sligo Creek and Long Branch SVP (multiple events) |
90 |
2729 |
Tilden Woods Local Park |
25 |
467 |
2010 TOTALS: 43 Events / 19 Parks |
671 VOLUNTEERS |
10,664 LBS |
Thanks to Our Sponsors!
The following businesses donated prizes for our contest: REI (Recreation Equipment Incorporated, Washington Freedom Soccer Club,. Also, each participant received a FREE Park Pass redeemable for admission to various Montgomery County Parks activities. After working in the parks, now it’s time to play in the parks!!
What's Next? 
The Challenge may be over but the efforts to eradicate garlic mustard continues! Here's how you can help:
- Join Friends of Sligo Creek for one of their many pulls over the next several weeks. Visit their website for times and locations: http://www.fosc.org/RIPEventSched.htm
- Become a Certified Weed Warrior and you are certified to pull any day at any Montgomery County Park! Volunteers must complete a two-part online course and participate in a two-hour field training session with a forest ecologist. Certified Weed Warriors will then be authorized to work anywhere on Montgomery County Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) parkland, on their own schedules and at their own pace. Visit www.WeedWarrior.org or contact Paul Carlson, Natural Resources Specialist at: Paul.Carlson@montgomeryparks.org or 301-942-4709
Thanks to all our Park’s Staff that supported this effort and brought the hundreds of bags of garlic mustard to the Montgomery Transfer Station for composting!
back to top - Last update: May 20, 2010
Montgomery County Department of Parks