A Weed by Any Other Name...

A weed by any other name... wouldn't be a weed. We all have plants that we like in places that we like and plants we don't like in places that we don't like. Plants can easily cross back and forth into our "like" category or our "dislike" category. Some plants are notorious for crossing that threshold. Mint and lambs ear can easily take over a garden from the single spot you planted it and once it does, it becomes a weed.
Weeds are simply plants growing where you don't want them to grow. Sure it's easy to target our disdain toward dandelions or crabgrass or spurge or, my least favorite, purslane. But hard as we try to rid our landscape of those plants, other gardeners may be cultivating them intentionally. Ever have dandelions or purslane in your salad? Many people have and love it.

How about tomatoes? Who would ever pluck a tomato plant from the ground as a weed? I would. By some twist of fate, I have a tomato plant growing right next to one of my blackberries. I didn't put it there and figure an errant seed from my compost pile rooted in the blackberry bed. Though I work hard to grow tomatoes, in this case the tomato plant is interfering with another plant and has to go. It has become a weed.

That isn't always the case. One year an errand plant popped up among the cucumbers and I decided to let it grow until I could identify it. Turns out it was a cantaloupe, also, I suspect, from an uncomposted seed. In that scenario I let it grow. The plant was doing better than any of the cantaloupes I intentionally planted in previous years and ultimately produced delicious fruit. By letting it grow, it started as a weed and became a treasured memory in gardening.

Seeds and seedlings often tag along in the soil with plants we buy from nurseries or swap with our gardener friends. I've had occasions where the tag-along plant became better liked than the original purchase. Right now I have a Virginia creeper growing out from soil that was just supposed to be Russian sage. Geographic lessons not withstanding, the creeper isn't desired in that spot, but I was planning on acquiring some for another section. A quick transplant and the weed is now part of the planned landscape.

Next time you're weeding your gardens, take a second to analyze the weeds you see. Before you pull or spray, identify the plant and think how you might be able to use it elsewhere. Some will be easy to kill, but others might deserve a second life in another plot. If the plant is able to grow in a place you didn't want it, think how well it will grow in a place you do. How easy is that?

A weed by any other name... wouldn't be a weed. We all have plants that we like in places that we like and plants we don't like in places that we don't like. Plants can easily cross back and forth into our "like" category or our "dislike" category. Some plants are notorious for crossing that threshold. Mint and lambs ear can easily take over a garden from the single spot you planted it and once it does, it becomes a weed.
Weeds are simply plants growing where you don't want them to grow. Sure it's easy to target our disdain toward dandelions or crabgrass or spurge or, my least favorite, purslane. But hard as we try to rid our landscape of those plants, other gardeners may be cultivating them intentionally. Ever have dandelions or purslane in your salad? Many people have and love it.

How about tomatoes? Who would ever pluck a tomato plant from the ground as a weed? I would. By some twist of fate, I have a tomato plant growing right next to one of my blackberries. I didn't put it there and figure an errant seed from my compost pile rooted in the blackberry bed. Though I work hard to grow tomatoes, in this case the tomato plant is interfering with another plant and has to go. It has become a weed.

That isn't always the case. One year an errand plant popped up among the cucumbers and I decided to let it grow until I could identify it. Turns out it was a cantaloupe, also, I suspect, from an uncomposted seed. In that scenario I let it grow. The plant was doing better than any of the cantaloupes I intentionally planted in previous years and ultimately produced delicious fruit. By letting it grow, it started as a weed and became a treasured memory in gardening.

Seeds and seedlings often tag along in the soil with plants we buy from nurseries or swap with our gardener friends. I've had occasions where the tag-along plant became better liked than the original purchase. Right now I have a Virginia creeper growing out from soil that was just supposed to be Russian sage. Geographic lessons not withstanding, the creeper isn't desired in that spot, but I was planning on acquiring some for another section. A quick transplant and the weed is now part of the planned landscape.

Next time you're weeding your gardens, take a second to analyze the weeds you see. Before you pull or spray, identify the plant and think how you might be able to use it elsewhere. Some will be easy to kill, but others might deserve a second life in another plot. If the plant is able to grow in a place you didn't want it, think how well it will grow in a place you do. How easy is that?