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| This is my fourth year in a new (for me) house and I'm finally seeing some improvement in the quality of the weeds that I'm pulling. It used to be just dandelions, crabgrass, thistles.... lawn grass trying to retake the new beds.... Now I'm pulling up phlox seedlings, forget me nots, lambs ear, black eyed Susans, stuff that wouldn't bother me if I didn't get around to pulling it. I can neglect areas and let the volunteers fill it up until I decide to put something else there, or just let it go and pull any nasty weeds that squeeze their way in and it still looks fine.
I seem to remember reading a quote once from someone visiting an old English garden, it had something to do with "even the compost pile was filled with treasure". I'm not there yet, but at least my compost pile has something other than crabgrass in it this year.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Yes, my weeds are much better looking this year! I've got plenty of forget me nots, calendula, sweet annie(thUGH!), agastache, rose campion, bach buttons, larkspur, poppies, and new this year - Parsley! |
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| Not quite what I thought you meant when I read the title, but I get what you're saying. However, I would like to just mention what I thought this was about -- the size and vigor of weeds that you pull is a really good indication of the health of your soil. Over the years, I've mulched extensively with leaves, grass clippings, woodchips, and sawdust, and I have areas now where the weeds that I pull are just magnificent specimens of themselves -- dandelions 18" across with foot high flower stalks, dock than can grow 4 feet tall, peppergrass two feet wide and two feet tall, that sort of thing IF allowed to grow (I can't get them all at once!). And, of course, being healthy weeds, they make wonderful compost to feed my plants ... and the next year's crop of healthy weeds. If you have a garden, bed, or even lawn that doesn't grow healthy looking weeds, if even they struggle, it's a good indication of problems with the soil healthy and fertility, so take that as a sign you need to work on those issues. |
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| That's a good point. It's not just what kind of weeds you get, it's the health of them too. I really hate pulling spindly tough weeds, the lush tender ones in good soil seem to be much easier to pull. I'm seeing a little of that as the soil improves but I still have plenty of bad soil areas. This spring I had lettuce sprouting in a couple flower beds and in the cracks of the driveway. I forgot I let a plant go to seed last year! Also hosta seedlings are all over one of the beds on the side of the house.... I don't consider them weeds since I will try to find homes for them, but they sure are a nicer surprise than say quackgrass. |
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- Posted by Donna.in.Sask 2b (My Page) on Tue, May 22, 12 at 11:21
| Yeah, quack grass is the scurge...sure feels good when you can dig up a huge piece that's a foot or two long, though. I've been digging out golden raspberries from the edge of my flower bed. Years ago, I gave it a spot in my garden because it managed to overwinter in the pot (forgot to plant it). I was rewarding it for its tenacity; little did I know it would overstay its welcome. :) I guess it's true about the saying, a weed is just a plant growing where it's not wanted. |
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| That's a good point. It's not just what kind of weeds you get, it's the health of them too. I really hate pulling spindly tough weeds, the lush tender ones in good soil seem to be much easier to pull. I'm seeing a little of that as the soil improves but I still have plenty of bad soil areas. This spring I had lettuce sprouting in a couple flower beds and in the cracks of the driveway. I forgot I let a plant go to seed last year! Also hosta seedlings are all over one of the beds on the side of the house.... I don't consider them weeds since I will try to find homes for them, but they sure are a nicer surprise than say quackgrass. |
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