D O THE ‘ORNAMENTAL’ PLANTS HAVE A CRUEL CASTE SYSTEM like some people do; do they really notice when “weeds” move in among them or is every plant born equal? I wonder. So, apparently, does Andre Jordan the doodler; or at least he wonders what the human neighbors will think if we’ve slacked a bit, if not literally wondering what’s on the minds of the intended garden plants. What shall we tell our dear provocateur Andre this week in reply to the question he poses?
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
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There goes the neighborhood….
hahaha. If they are THAT concerned, they are welcome anytime to come and help weed. :)
My neighbors are probably thinking: “At least SOMEONE has more weeds than us” when they look at my house. or maybe “Broadleaf plantain must be edible – she’s got so many of them!”
@Jen: Good one…now you can have a reason (aka excuse) behind letting the weeds grow; it’s just being neighborly, to make them feel good about themselves. Me, I am blaming the weather. (How does touch me not or jewelweed or whatever you want to call it grow a foot a day, or at least seem to?)
Warning: weeding is fraught with peril! Example: last evening I went out to weed a small part of the veggie garden. My husband shut and locked the doors because he didn’t know where I was, then he went upstairs for a nap and put his good ear down on the pillow. The neighbours were highly entertained for fifteen minutes by my ringing the doorbell, yelling through the mail slot, kicking the door, etc. And no — he didn’t eventually hear me, but he wanted to watch something on TV so he came down. So ……… advice from me, don’t do weeding under any circumstances unless you want to provide a floor show for the neighbourhood.
When it comes to weeding, Even if you think you got them ALL, when you walk past the garden AGAIN, you see that you missed some. Weeds are not JUST happy in broad day light, they can be found lurking under BIG LEAVED plants, like hostas. To me, VOLUNTEERS, from plants that self seed too much, are WEEDS. Feverfew sends out OH to MANY seeds, that come up everywhere, even through my Preen applications to the flower beds and boarders. SO, a plant that is desirable to me, is a plant that is “in a place”, where I want it to be. A plant could be a weed if a person can’t recognize it, for what it is. I bought a “rudbeckia” plant and found myself, the following year, TRYING to rip it out, thinking it was a weed, because it’s foliage was not like that of the Gloriosa Daisy that comes up yearly in my garden. If I was to go and weed, at Margaret’s garden, some plants, I would know, and others (shade-woodland) plants, I would have to question their importance. It is funny, that some cultivated plants have weeds that look just like themselves. ALSO, Margaret likes weeds! She grows the evasive Bishop’s Weed, and in the past, I have seen, (if I am right) the Japanese Knotweed in her garden.
I have a big bed that I haven’t planted because eventually it’s going to be driveway. I weed it selectively. I take out the blackberries and bindweed, and leave the foxglove, verbascum, and california poppies. One neighbor did suggest that I’m not doing anything in that bed, but others have admired it. There have been more admirers than critics.
I’ve been thinking about weeds a lot lately, as I actually have a great fondness for many of them.
Those I like, I often leave untouched when weeding. For example, I let a Verbascum rhapsis shoot up from my patio one year. It was fascinating to watch (though I know it makes way too many seeds, and I see its offspring from time to time).
There aren’t many blues that match the Echium vulgare (Viper’s bugloss) in flower. Last year in Wales, we saw a huge specimen of this growing at Bodnant Gardens. It’s all over the meadows here in Southern Ontario.
Ox-eye daisies, fleabane, the fragrance of common milkweed. I love them. In my garden, the weediest things are morning glories (Ipomeoa), which can take over by August without a firm hand.
Alas, today I discovered a small, tidy example of Asclepias, the beautiful Orange Milkweed or Butterflyweed growing in my garden. I was overjoyed, because last year I planted two of these supposed perennials, but they winterkilled. I watered it and looked at it two or three times to make sure it was really there. After supper I walked over to look at it again, thinking I would show it to my husband as insurance against his overly vigorous WEEDING, but it was TOO LATE. It was GONE…he already got it sometime during the afternoon…he was sorry, but it is still gone, and he still doesn’t know what it looks like. Not meant to be, perhaps…
I tend to pull only the weeds I can identify and relocate the ones I can’t into an experimental pot, for the spring. I had a bumper crop of wild mustard this time, after recognizing the seedlings as some kind of brassica and letting them grow. Didn’t let it go to seed, but I’ll know what it is (and probably let it grow again) if it shows up again.