Wild Chervil
Wild Chervil at the north end of Lake Morey
Close-up of a Wild Chervil bloom
Wild Chervil is thick up and down the Route 5 corridor as well as around Lake Morey.
“Wild Chervil is highly adaptable and will grow in almost any type of soil. It has an aggressive growth habit which quickly creates monocultures (chokes out all native plants). It poses a serious threat to native plants and agriculture.”
https://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops/articles/WildChervil.pdf
In the picture below it has crowded out most of the native plants and grasses that our insects depend on.
Wild Chervil thick along Route 5
“Wild Chervil is a weed belonging to the parsley family (Apiaceae) and is becoming a serious problem in hay fields and pastures in central Vermont.
Its three to four foot heights, fern-like leaves and white flowers arranged in a compound umbel pattern are quite pronounced during late May to early July and are commonly found along roadsides and in meadows in central Vermont. Over the past five years, this weed has spread rapidly. It propagates by both seed and by lateral budding at the top of the root. It competes aggressively with forage crops for light, water and nutrients and often kills off the surrounding vegetation by shading it.”.
https://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops/articles/WildChervil.pdf
Control:
The simplest way is to cut it down before it has a chance to set seeds, ie whenever you see it.
Wild chervil plants can also be dug up, but this can be difficult due to the deep roots and it is important to remove the entire root.
Plant may cause skin irritation so use caution and wear gloves when handling.
Links:
One way to kill it is to cut it down (being careful not to touch it because of the irritation risk) and then use a sprayer to spray cleaning vinegar (not cooking vinegar) across the freshly cut plant. Vinegar kills the roots and changes the PH of the soil for a while keeping less from being able to grow back.
That sounds like it’s worth a try for scattered plants, Molly. I haven’t experienced any irritation but I do wear gloves as recommended.
What is cleaning vinegar> I use white vinegar to kill weeds in my yard, but don’t know what cleaning vinegar is or where to get it.
I’m guessing Molly meant white vinegar..