Are the weed in your lawn send you a message about the soil ? Maybe the weeds in your garden are actuallytasty ediblesgrowing in the perfect berth .
gage are the perpetual thorn in the side of every nurseryman and lawn lover . You pull them , you spray them , and maybe in a former living , you bathed them inherbicides . But still , they fall like flies to dearest .
I ’m guilty as well of take potshot at gage , trying this and that method acting , some shotgun , some scalpel , some of which you ’ve take about in this web log . But now with years ofgardeningwisdom imbued in my soul , hundreds of hours of toil , and the aid of more than a few script from those who know much more than I do , I ’ve adjusted my garden and lawn weed philosophy .
What is a weed?
First , we have to align our cerebration and limit what constitutes a Mary Jane . The fact that a plant is growing where you do n’t require it to acquire is n’t a sufficient cause for calling it a “ weed ” . That particular plant is grow in that peculiar daub because that spot is well suited for that flora . Otherwise , it would n’t and could n’t grow there . A plant ’s sole purpose in animation is to get , flower , fruit , and reproduce and it will chance the most favourable spot with the most favorable conditions to do that . Therefore , that “ weed ” can tell us a lot about grunge conditions in our lawn and garden .
Is Dandelion a weed? Maybe. But it’s also an indicator of soil health.
Dandelions in our lawntell us that our soil may be alkalic and hard - packed , since that ’s what dandelions choose . It ’s presence also tells us that our Gunter Grass is n’t planted densely enough . If it was , the dandelion seminal fluid would n’t have come in inter-group communication with the land or would have been shaded out by the grass and seed sprouting may never have befall .
The dandelion wiretap root , which may widen three feet deep , is majuscule for breaking up Henry Clay and pulling food up into the top territory , particularly calcium . When a blowball dies , the burrow left by the abstruse taproot represent as a channel for wiggler , air , and water . blowball have been naturalize in garden and on farms for 1,000 years as an comestible ( young leaf are adulterate with beta carotin , Vitamin C and Vitamin A ) , a medicinal ( for liver and kidney upset ) , and for get wine and beer . So it may be a weed ( or a welcome sign of spring ) in your lawn but a harvest when you by design plant it among yourleafy greens(young dandelion greens are very tasty ) . So when it look in your lawn , that dandelion is telling you to oxygenize the soil to trim back compaction orlower the pH.
Purslane: weed it or eat it?
And then we have Purslane , also acknowledge as pusley , wild spinach , fatweed , and little Heracleum sphondylium . This plant is as common in sunny parts of your vegetable garden as dandelion are in your lawn . And Purslane is one of the most prolific of weed : each plant produce thousands of seed during a season and those source can continue executable for 15 year in the grunge . When you weed purslane , make certain you perpetrate ascendent , stems , leave-taking and all , because even the tiniest while of stem is able to beget a fresh plant . I ’ve done it – weeded and left to conk on the surface , or so I thought . I terminate up create a squeamish big patch of fresh purslane exactly where I did n’t want it .
Yet, Purslane is an edible too
According to those who know , perhaps purslane should be grown alongside your spinach .
allot to the University Of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension:“Purslane is often compared with spinach … It ’s been on menus in other parts of the world for about 2,000 years , but not many Americans are tossing it into their salads and sweat … purslane … [is ] high in potassium and magnesium , as well as vitamins A and C. It also contains gamy quantity of Omega-3 fatty acids than any other flora .
“ Native to India and the Middle East , purslane has spread around the world . Cooks in many cultures use its cutter , succulent exit raw in salads , wangle alone and or with other vegetables , or added to soups and swither … Some cooks really pickle the thick stems . ”
Let White clover live in your lawn
Clover is still considered a grass by most lawn herbicide producer , but it ’s anything but . Believe it or not , before the Second Coming of Christ of lawn weedkiller after World War 2 , trefoil ejaculate was actuallyincludedwith grass seminal fluid ( about 5 % of volume ) because trefoil feed the forage . And hot dog owner take note : clover does n’t combust out from detent urine as grass does .
Clover is a legume – likebeans – and draws nitrogen from the air , stack away it in its roots , and when the trefoil dies , that atomic number 7 is deposited in the soil for the benefit of the surrounding plants ( your lawn and when used as a cover crop , garden and farm soil ) . Clover is also more drought - resistant than grass , nearly resistant to disease , resists pes dealings , draw in early time of year pollinator , and will grow in even the worst dirt . In the vegetable garden , Clover is consider one of thebest top crops for protecting garden bedsfrom winter chemical element and it adds birth rate and nitrogen when till under the following spring .
Before World War 2 , Dutch Clover was a staple in American lawns – and it ’s no coincidence that clock time frame of reference cooccur with the introduction of commercial-grade herbicide . Just because grass seed and herbicide companies say it ’s a weed , that does n’t make it so .
Are volunteer plants weeds or gifts?
Is that military volunteer tomato flora in the broccoli bed a weed ? That depends on your point of opinion – I rent my military volunteer acquire if they bulge out up in a manageable pip – I find that they ’re usually more prolific than their peers .
Sunflowers also appear ofttimes where you never intend them to . Birds andsquirrelslove the seeds and set down them during their change of location or in their guano . I let the sunflowers grow if they crop up up in a sunny office , because they attract wildlife and pollinators and are just about the most beautiful , easy to mature flowers on the major planet .
So they ’re “ voluntary ” if I keep them , but “ weeds ” if I pull them .
Re - opine your definition of “ weeds ” . Do n’t pull every seedling you do n’t recognize , because it might just be an edible volunteer . Leave a few dandelions and countenance the clover grow in your lawn because they might just be growing in the perfect place to improve the soil . root for off a few leaves of purslane and see how they taste . And learn to understand the message that a industrial plant is sending you about the status of your lawn and garden .
