The Wonder of Weeds

Given that the definition of a weed is a plant in the wrong place, I decided it was high time to question my attitude towards weeds. I remove weeds that are competing with other perennials for moisture and nutrients, and for aesthetic reasons. But I think all this talk of Sustainability and Biodiversity is rubbing off on me as I am prepared to feel the love towards weedery.

My weed nemesis is wood avens or Herb Bennett, amongst other names, the pernicious forefather of our much-loved geums. Its dainty yellow flowers aloft wispy stems, growing from a basal rosette of leaves, belie its true thuggery! Not only do the barbed seed heads attach themselves to any passing traffic - me, the cat, wildlife - multiple rosettes make themselves right at home amongst your prized perennials. Creeping buttercup is another menace, spreading underground to produce more and more rosettes. A cuckoo in the nest. On the other hand, I quite fancy the tiny pink flowers and red tinged foliage of herb Robert. The original hardy geranium, it comes away from the soil with a gentle tug, making light work of selective pruning.

Ergo, the harder the plant is to remove, the more I consider it a weed.

Who decides which plants are weeds and which are wildflowers? If you had a rough area at the back of your garden with wood avens and Herb Robert, why would you dig them up? They are quite pretty and provide nectar for insects in the same way as cultivated garden plants. Why is it considered acceptable to allow daisies to grow in your lawn but not Persian speedwell? I love its low-growing mats of small green leaves carrying tiny blue flowers, but it is considered by many to be a menace in lawns.

The white trumpet flowers of the dreaded bindweed break up the austerity of wire fences surrounding carparks, but you wouldn’t want it wandering around your formal privet hedges, as it would eventually take over. Buddleia is considered a weed when it grows along railway sidings or installs itself into your chimney breast, but is considered a staple in most gardens and is a great butterfly magnet.

So, take a leaf out of my book, no pun intended, and go easy on the weeds, they are only wildflowers in disguise.

 Love, Caroline x