Garlic mustard seeds can survive for five or more years in the soil. Effective management requires a long-term effort. Hand removal of plants along with the roots, is effective for light, scattered infestations. Flowering plants can be cut low to the ground in spring to prevent seed production but cut plants can resprout. Careful hand removal and bagging of plants with mature fruits can be done as soon as fruits are present. Systemic herbicides containing glyphosate are effective but repeated treatments are usually needed because of the large seed stores in the soil. Researchers are investigating potential biological control agents but none are available at this time.