Why do we call dandelions weeds?

[Pat]

 

[Bootsy]

There's no technical definition of a weed but it's considered that a weed is a plant that is where you don't want it.

Having said that, most gardeners have a list of weeds that they all agree are unwanted. Dandelions are a nuisance because their leaves are not particularly attractive and the flowers seed so profusely that they propagate everywhere and quickly cover the ground.

Fortunately they're not as pernicious as some other weeds. They are fairly easy to dig out.

Weeds that are more difficult to remove are things such as bindweed, strawberry weed (they both have 'weed' in their names ), equisetum (mare's tail/horse tail) and ground elder.

 

[Beth_B]

What @Bootsy said.

Also, failing to control dandelions on one's own lawn is sort of anti-social if you have neighbors who try to keep their lawns dandelion-free, because how aggressively and quickly they spread.
Thankfully I don't have neighbors who value pristine lawns.
When I was a kid we'd pick the early dandelion leaves for salad (before they flower; afterwards they get bitter) and I see dandelion leaves for sale at supermarkets here. Which always sort of amuses me.

My biggest "weed" is creeping charlie, that stuff is pernicious. It's pretty, with little purple flowers and I don't mind it in my lawn but it's a real pest in the veggie and perennial beds.
http://www.theiowagardener.com/Creeping_charlie.html

 

[ChanellG]

LOL, not this again! I think it's time we all decide that weeds are weeds and this can mean something different to someone different and let them be. There are a few different definitions out there, but the bottom line is anything that is unwanted and/or invasive is just that.

 

[Trellum]

The definition of weeds has been explained a lot time already, but to me a weed is any plant that starts growing in your garden without your consent, lol. So basically anything that suddenly starts growing in my pots or garden (that I didn't plant) is considered a weed by me, that includes plants that are not so invasive, but just growing in the wrong place.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I don't know. Meanwhile, I consider lawn grass a weed.

 

[Greenhorn]

A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place.

 

[peachdejour]

I thought about this. It is a weed in my garden but not in my lawn. I happen to like dandelions in my lawn. My boyfriend may disagree with me because we live in the suburbs and my hillbilly ways don't conform (hehe), but they are a very useful and tasty plant to have around.

 

[claudine]

My thought exactly, Greenhorn!
Personally, I don't consider dandelions weeds and I don't try to get rid of them. They're so pretty! I love when they turn into puff balls

 

[peachdejour]

My thought exactly, Greenhorn!
Personally, I don't consider dandelions weeds and I don't try to get rid of them. They're so pretty! I love when they turn into puff balls

Do you wish on the puffballs?

 

[claudine]

Do you wish on the puffballs?

No, people in my country don't do it. But I often have puffball fights with my boyfriend, lol. I always end up with thousands of dandelion seeds in my hair

 

[peachdejour]

We close our eyes, make a wish, and blow the seeds into the wind.

 

[zigs]

I close my eyes, make a wish, and then set fire to the seed head

 

[thomas pendrake]

Mark Catesby, known as the Colonial Naturalist and arguably the most important naturalist of the last few thousand years, was said to have called weeds "more self-reliant flowers". The dandelion is not only a lovely flower, but it is important medically and is an excellent source of food for humans, It can also be used to make a popular wine.
I lived in the Knoxville area a few years ago and had a musician friend who insisted (vehemently, he had OCPD) that the beautiful wild violet is a terrible weed. I pointed out that many people in East Tennessee (where violets grow particularly well) have flower beds dedicated to them, and I once lived in a lovely rental home near Sevierville where the instructions for lawn care included "Don't harm the violets" (the front lawn had no grass, only an incredibly beautiful variety of violets. To be fair, it was on a steep slope and would have been hard to mow
Dandelions and violets are both in a group of wild-flowers which are either loved or hated. I here have lovely spider-sorts (two varieties) in my lawn, my back lawn is solidly one ground-hugging variety that makes a lovely alternative to grass (under spreading oaks).

 

[IcyBC]

We call so many beautiful flowers weed because they are independent, they don't need our care, and they grow where they want My yard is currently decorated with yellow flowers and their puffy balls