What about weeds ?

Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
3,403
Reaction score
2,113
Country
United Kingdom
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?
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
1,406
Reaction score
605
Location
Tennessee
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
Seems like if you till them up on Saturday, a different weed will sprout up than if you tilled them up on Wednesday.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
3,403
Reaction score
2,113
Country
United Kingdom
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.
 
Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
1,482
Reaction score
1,326
Location
Atlantic Beach, Fl
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United States
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....
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
3,403
Reaction score
2,113
Country
United Kingdom
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."
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,585
Messages
256,577
Members
13,258
Latest member
alba

Latest Threads

Top