Stop Garlic Mustard!

Its that time of year again when the garlic mustard is tall and in bloom and it seems to be everywhere! This extremely noxious weeds is a major threat to our woodlands displacing native plants and, in turn, animals. It might be found in just about any shady area and a few sunny areas too. Get to know this plant and if you find any on your property: get rid of it! Now is the time to act, so take a look around and check with your neighbors to be sure it is kept under control (eliminated!) in your neighborhood.

Take at look at our Garlic Mustard Weed ID and Control Sheet (PDF) for more information and pass this information along to your friends and neighbors.

More Spring Wildflower Walks this week!

We have two wildflower walks coming up this week!

The first is on Tuesday at 6pm at meeting at the Wingra Springs parking lot at the UW Arboretum in Madison. We should see a variety of showy spring ephemerals such as great white trillium, woodland phlox, trout lily, anemones and more! From the Mill street entrance take Arboretum Drive past the residential area and up the hill through Gallistel Woods. The parking lot is at the top of the hill.

The second is on Sunday at 1pm. We'll travel south to Abraham's Woods in Green County to see its exceptional display of spring ephemerals including some rare species such as nodding trillium. After the walk through the woods we'll visit a nearby prairie remnant to see what happening in our grasslands this time of year. We'll meet at the South Madison Branch library at 2222 Park Street to car-pool, or contact us to make other arrangements.

These walks are free and open to the public, and we encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the natural beauty of our region. Please contact Frank if you have any other questions. Please see our wildflower walks webpage for other trips and more information.

Upright weeding tool lending service courtesy the Greater Madison Healthy Lawn Team

Frank is participating in the Greater Madison Healthy Lawn Team's upright weeding tool lending program. This program is intended to promote chemical-free weed control by loaning out quivers of several types of weeding tools that can be operated easily from a standing position. If you are in the Madison metro area would like to borrow these tools for a few weeks let Frank know and we can check the tools out to you for a few weeks. For more information about the GMHLT, see: www.healthylawnteam.org

Come See Us at Green Day

We're going to hosting a booth at the Green Day Expo at the Monona Terrace this Saturday April 25th. This is a great time to stop by and meet us in person to discuss native landscaping and ecological restoration... or just say "Hi".

Furthermore, Frank will be giving a presentation at a break-out session at 3pm titled: "Native Plants for a Sustainable Landscape". He will discuss the environmental benefits of landscaping with native plants and offer advice as to how you can go about adding natives to your home or business landscape.

We hope you can make it!

Good Oak Wildflower Walk Schedule for Spring 2009

We've finalized the Good Oak Wildflower Walk schedule for April, May and June. For any of these hikes, be sure to wear appropriate clothing such as long pants and sturdy boots. Also bring with you any water or snacks you might need. Contact Frank for meeting location and more information.

And with that said, here is the schedule:

Tuesday, 4/21, 6-8pm Early spring ephemerals hike at the UW Arboretum
Sunday, 4/26, 1-6pm Early prairie wildflowers at Walking Iron Prairie
Tuesday 5/5, 6-8pm Woodland spring ephemerals at the UW Arboretum
Sunday, 5/10, 1-6pm Rare spring wildflowers of Abraham's Woods
Tuesday, 5/19, 6-8pm Woodland spring ephemerals at Cherokee Marsh
Sunday, 5/31, 1-6pm Wildflowers of Blue Mounds and Pleasant Valley
Tuesday, 6/9, 6-8pm Wildflowers of Koltes and Ripp Prairies
Saturday, 6/20, 1-6pm Wood Lily extravaganza at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie
Tuesday, 6/23, 6-8pm Grady Tract and Green Prairie of the UW Arboretum

Contact Frank Hassler at frank@goodoakllc.com or 209-0607 for meeting location and more information.