What about weeds ?

[Oliver Buckle]

How about a thread about those other plants in our garden?

Love 'em or hate 'em they are going to be there, so I do my best to see their plus side.
I have been seeing one of my favourites this year, scarlet pimpernel. The flower stands out instantly, but take a real close up look and it is really special. Same goes for speedwell, speedwell is a wild veronica.
Speedwell is almost always there, but different ones are dominant different years, this year seems to be the year of the black meddick.
A lot of weeds were rare plants before man came along. They couldn't cope with forest and there was a narrow strip of marginal land between rocks and forest where they could just get by, then we cut the trees down and set them free.
I don't like those really deep rooted ones like docks and dandelion. In a way They do a good job bringing nutrients up from deep down, but I like them better for it when they are adding it to the compost

Any thoughts on weeds?

 

[DirtMechanic]

If I were a rough and tumble wrestling entertainer on tv, my stage name would be Wild Violet!

 

[YumYum]

Seems like if you till them up on Saturday, a different weed will sprout up than if you tilled them up on Wednesday.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

They are a good indicator of the health of your soil, if even the weeds look thin and sickly the soil is not going to be in a good state. I think the dry conditions are why I am seeing so much Black medick this year, and no chickweed.

 

[roadrunner]

I allow pokeweed to grow all over the place. It's actually a nice looking plant, it has a deep tap root and is a considered a bio-accumulator, so for the ones that get in the way I chop and drop for quality OM. And the tiny flowers attract parasitic wasps and the fruits attract tons of birds.

Too many other "weeds" I love to list right now....

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Most people hate bindweed, convululus, My mate Gus used to love it, he ran a scrap yard with an eight foot wire fence along the road front. The fence was along a narrow strip of poor earth between the hard packed yard and the pavement and the bindweed covered it in foliage and big, white, trumpet flowers. Gus would say, "Look at it man, it's amazing, what other plant could even grow there, let alone do that? It's beautiful."