Learning to love the weed.

To many  gardeners, there is a four letter word that starts with W and sends us into a frenzy.  As an enthusiastic gardener who has battled with the  WEED for many a moon, in the flower beds, in the lawn, and  in the Potager, I have begun to take a more philosophical look at the weed. What Is a weed anyway?  And who decided it was a weed? What is to a farmer, a weed, may be a wildflower to a gardener.  What may be weeds to a  Master gardener, could be the makings of  a beautiful bouquet to an amateur dirt digger. What, is the difference between this purple patch of  wild Lamium (so-called weed) and a field of, say, purple heather?

 Both are lovely, and they look similar. But I can't seem to grow Heather on my hill and the Lamium grows and spreads and waves in the breeze and looks absolutely gorgeous from afar!  This plant is also edible and pretty when  used in a salad.  I used to rip this out with a vengeance, because I heard tell "it was a weed" but I no longer do. I have decided to love this plant instead. The boys tiink it is jolly good fun, and I am not concerned that they are crushing it in play, it just springs right back up again!

 I think we spend far too much time striving for  a pristine lawn or garden, by taking someone else's word for the definition of a weed ( and whether or not it has any business amongst the flowers)  As Miss Marple said, " A weed is simply a plant growing where you don't want it." Life is too short to be constantly exasperated and stressed out by weeding. I am going to tell you why I love some weeds and maybe you will reconsider their presence in your garden, instead of looking upon them with disdain.

  These white Ox eye Daisy are considered a weed where I live as are the little yellow buttercups in the background.   But I consider these wildflower natives and I transplant them from our meadow into all my gardens.

 The Daisies drop seeds like nobody's business, I find little plants everywhere. If I need to fill in a new garden, I just transplant these and in a few weeks, I have full, mounds of glorious happy daisies filling the cottage garden. There is no need to transplant the buttercups, they travel with abandon wherever they wish.

 Creeping Charlie

   Here is a plant that makes lawn-loving, grown men cry and ladies curse like a sailor,  (under their breath , of course). I  had to learn to love it. I used to go insane  trying to clear it out of my gardens and lawn. It has many names, "Creeping Charlie", "Catsfoot", "Hedgemaids", "Gill over the Ground", "Robins Run" AND "Ground Ivy"! How can a plant with so many names be a bad guy? Well, it isn't.  It actually has an interesting history and was much prized by our forebears as a healing herb. It is a rampant ground cover, a member of the mint family and it grows by runners. It produces teeny blue and purplish flowers in early spring and has lovely roundish leaves, shaped like cat paws. When I realised it was nearly impossible to eradicate, I decided to work with it instead. Now, I simply control it's rampant growth by pulling it away from established plants and let the remainder wander as a "mulch". If it gets to be too much, I simply yank it out where it is not welcome and leave the rest. It is actually quite lovely and smells wonderful, (especially in the lawn, whilst mowing).  It does not effect the growth of my perennials at all and keeps in the moisture by covering the soil in a thick blanket.

 

   Last year I even potted some for the porch

Queen Annes Lace and Wild Violets

  Here you see the beginnings of Queen Annes Lace ( also listed as a weed by the extension service, are they crazy?!)
Mixed in with it are wild violets. Now, will someone please tell me why Pansies are considered a flower and yet these lovely little violets are considered a weed?! How insulting to that lovely little plant with heart shaped leaves, lavender blooms and a tidy mounding habit.

 

 Below is a patch of Periwinkle, and violets and lamium.. all listed as weeds.

 

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Creeping Jenny, wild violets and wild Geranium

are all "weeds" that  I welcome in my country gardens. Funny about that Creeping Jenny, For years it was called a weed, and then, last year they were selling it at the garden center for a hefty price!

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Wild Peas and crown-vetch are also my little weedy pals... I hear-by christen all these plants as FLOWERS 

 in Hopalong Hollow!

  I don't tolerate everything listed as a weed, I hate quack grass ( it is UGLY) and am not fond of thistles (they hurt!) and chickweed ( it just looks messy and dies an ugly death). But I am very happy that they grow along the highways and byways making the countryside colorful and the bees happy.

 Many of the plants I used to stress over and despise have become my little ever-dependable pals.

 Of course, my gardens are cottage and country gardens. If you have formal gardens you may take a dimmer view on these plants. But frankly, I would like to sit back and sip my ice tea while admiring all the commotion in the garden, rather than pulling out "weeds".

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"I am not a lover of lawns. Rather would I see daisies in their thousands, ground ivy, hawkweed, and even the hated plantain with tall stems, and dandelions with splendid flowers and fairy down, than the too-well-tended lawn." W.H. Hudson

PS  I am on the last two pages of my book.  Afterwards, the bookcover and endpapers, then I shall be finished.