Mugwort begone! HCT volunteers clear invasive plants from Cold Brook pollinator garden

It sure would be great if you could open a giant can marked “Instant Pollinator Garden,” toss the contents on the ground, then sit down in a beach chair and admire the bees and butterflies.

Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) volunteers, staff, an AmeriCorps member and a summer intern removed invasive plants from the pollinator garden at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve. Harwich Conservation Trust photo

Well, it doesn’t quite work that way. In the long run, pollinator gardens can require minimal maintenance, but in the first year or so they require some good old-fashioned hard work.

That’s where amazing Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) volunteers come in. A can-do crew assembled at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve on a recent morning, gazed at a mugshot of mugwort, then proceeded to pull the pesky invasive plant from the pollinator garden at the trailhead.

Habitat for vulnerable butterflies

The recent rewilding project at the Preserve added a half-mile All Persons Trail, restored 44 acres of wetland and a mile of stream habitat. Now home to all kinds of wildlife and flourishing native plants, the area has become a popular hiking and nature-watching destination.

The pollinator garden, which aims to provide habitat to vulnerable butterflies, including monarchs, swallowtails and skippers, was planted a year ago, under the direction of longtime HCT volunteers Karen and Gerry Beetham. Approximately 200 native plants hit the dirt, including butterfly weed, little bluestem, swamp milkweed, cardinal flower and white turtlehead.

Now, a year later, the garden looks great! It’s hard to believe how much has changed in just a few months. Flowers are blooming, the plants look strong and the trailhead area is turning into a pollinator-attracting showcase.

Native wild lupine at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve pollinator garden. Photo by Gerry Beetham

This is a key time to make sure the plants have the room they need to thrive and create a vibrant environment to help pollinators.

“These native plants will spread over time, and it will get to an equilibrium where they are the dominant species, and not much work to maintain” said Connor O’Brien, HCT’s Director of land Stewardship. “But it takes a few years for them to get established. And during that time, you have to weed out invasive species that want to take over.”

Mugwort moves in

We’re looking at you, mugwort! The pesky invasive plant, a perennial, has been the bane of many Cape gardeners. It loves disturbed soil and can spread, mainly via underground rhizomes (interconnected roots), and by seed dispersal.

You can knock it back by pulling the plant or mowing, but it’s important that you take a good whack at it before it flowers and produces seeds. Otherwise, your removal efforts can distribute the seeds, an unpleasant turn of events.

And, to add invasive drama, even tiny disconnected pieces of mugwort rhizomes can form new plants — you’ve almost got to admire its chutzpah!

“The issue with mugwort is it grows so thick that it can become a monoculture and just block out everything else,” said O’Brien. “It grows quickly in the spring, and it stays high and shades out everything else.”

But mugwort met its match at the hands of HCT volunteers. Basket after basket of the leafy green invaders were removed from the pollinator garden. Sure, it might come back — but so will HCT volunteers.

Harwich Conservation Trust volunteers clear invasive plants from the pollinator garden at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve. Photo by Gerry Beetham

Thumbs-up from Karen

Perhaps the biggest test of the pollinator plot’s success rested with the opinion of gardening guru Karen Beetham. We caught up with her while she was precisely perusing the area, carefully noting green triumphs and underperformers. “I’m happy with it so far,” said Beetham. “There are going to be lots of flowers, and hopefully we’ll see lots of pollinators.”

Beetham was also glad to see the invasive plants get the boot and is looking forward to the arrival of new native plants, which will be added to the garden in the next few weeks.

But she wasn’t ready to rest on her laurels — especially with mugwort afoot — and of course, there was the all-important pollinator garden aesthetic to consider. “This is a wild garden, and we certainly don’t want a manicured look here,” she said. “We want the wildlife to come in and visit.”

Speaking of visiting, we welcome everyone to spin by the Cold Brook Preserve (203 Bank Street, Harwich Port) to check out the one-year-old pollinator garden at the trailhead. There’s a lot growing on!

Photo gallery: Ace HCT volunteer photographer Gerry Beetham captured these great images of the pollinator garden at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve:

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.