To weed or not to weed...that is the question!
How do I choose what belongs in my garden and what does not?
Which plants are worthy and which are not?
If one is not chosen, why? What is the criteria?
What is a "weed"? Technically, a weed is truly only a plant that grows where it is not desired. Perhaps it is a native (or non native) plant that grows aggressively and crowds or restricts light or minerals from other desirable plants.
Some weeds are a nuisance due to thorns or prickles, while others may degrade the quality of a specific crop.
So is a beloved hybrid tea rose, with its mighty thorns, a weed?! (GASP!!!)
I ponder these questions as I identify keepers and those that will be disgarded.
I wonder...who am I to choose the fate of another living being?! The thought is very humbling.
Even if I realize my "superiror" position as manager of my space, I might decide that only beautiful and useful specimens are worthwhile. If so, then the dandelion is a "weed" worth keeping.
After all, dandelion greens are quite common in Greek cuisne (pretty yummy too with some lemon and olive oil!!) and the flower is actually quite pretty.
And just consider how pretty a field of thistle would be!
Or this glorious blue flower that is somehow bypassed by the mower every week...
Hmmmmm.....
After moments of deep thought, pondering, humbling consideration....I've come to the conclusion....just pull the weed and be done with it!!!
Stop the nonsense!!
15 comments:
As long as its a native I love weeds and let them grow! They help secure the soil andenrich it over time. As long as they're not crowding out other plants or aesthetically at odds that is!
Way I see it a weed is any plant you don't like.
There is beauty in everything. The decision what to leave in its place and what to pull out.. is only yours.
Costas
It depends where you are, as some people here consider heleconias a weed! Gasp! I think sometimes gardeners can get a bit uppity and consider anything that grows too well a weed!
Dear Kimberly, I have much enjoyed this amusing posting which does, of course, contain a serious message. What a dilemma. Probably, at the end of the day, it becomes very personal and one keeps those plants which one likes and dismisses the others as weeds which must be got rid of. There is, I feel, no room for sentiment.
I hope that you have a really enjoyable weekend with not too much time spent weeding!
Weeding is looming in my future. The cold weather had killed even the weeds for a time, but that time is over. I love seeing the little wild flowers and usually leave them unless they get agressive. Sometimes that means I've waited too long and made my job that much harder. When I'm outside this weekend I will remember, "Stop the nonsense."
Leave the weed if it doesn't bother you! I think the biggest weed around here is the dandelion and everybody knows that one so it shouldn't be in the garden. Other than that, I'm not sure either so if it looks ok in the there - I leave it!
Some weeds are pretty, and I would keep them if they would not spread or disperse their seed. But they do, so I do pull them out.
This time of year it's hard to tell what is a weed in the first place, so many little seedlings pulled up. I saw in comment somewhere else that you married into a Greek family and so did I. My husbands Yia yia talked about picking and eating Dandelion greens, even bought them at the store.
I do stop to think before I pull weeds out if they are blooming, especially for those pretty ones :) But usually I eventually pull them out since they tend to spread to my small space of the garaden...
Weeds do have a space in my little garden... as long as they don't too aggressive. ~bangchik
I know what you mean.
I've had many people point and say, "It's a freaking weed, just pull it!" And I will, after I've enjoyed the blooms for a while. :)
We have so much more space here than we've had before, and if I pulled all my 'wildflowers' I'd go broke buying plants to fill in with. If it's a noxious invasive weed I pull it, no question. However, some of my 'weeds' are native plants that others pay money for! Miner's lettuce, creeping snowberry, goodness, some of my ferns are so prolific they could almost be deemed weeds. I've learned instead of pulling them, to appreciate them, and occasionally even move them to a better location.
I spent a good portion of today yanking undesirable, but green, weeds, out of my seriously compromised and, as yet still brownish, St. Augustine lawn. But in the vacant lot next door, some of the same "weeds" looked quite lovely in flower.
Funny. Your "weeds" are my wildflowers. The teasle was once valued as a toll for carding wool - the spines pulled dirt and burrs out of fleece, prior to
spinning. And the blue-eyed grass has a place of honor in my Northern California garden.
I guess it's all about what we value.
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