Garlic Mustard, also commonly known as 'Jack-by-the-hedge', likes shady places, such as the edges of woods and hedgerows. It can grow to over a metre tall and has small white flowers that appear from April to June. It is a biennial plant (taking two years to complete its lifecycle), growing young leaves in its first year, which it keeps over winter, and flowering in the spring of the second.
The Wildlife Trusts manage many woodland nature reserves sympathetically for a range of spring flowers, from tasty Garlic Mustard to fragrant Ramsons, showy Bluebells to delicate Wood Anemones. A mix of coppicing, scrub-cutting and ride maintenance open up the woodland floor to the sun, helping many flowers and plants to thrive. You can help too: volunteer for your local Wildlife Trust and you could be involved in everything from traditional forest crafts to raising awareness about woodland wildlife.
