What is a weed? According to my friend, Merriam Webster, it is "a (1) : a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants."
The above photo is a small section of what was, up until this past spring, the vegetable garden. I've retired this well-used piece of ground, and it is now covered in weeds and old veggies gone to seed. The patch looks a little like a wildflower meadow and is busy with bees and other insects and a hummingbird or two.
Don't get tangled in the twisting, orange vine as you follow me down the garden path for more.
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Another friend of mine says that since she stopped mowing and weed eating her yard, she has identified over 80 species of plants growing on her property. Plants, she calls them. Not weeds. And the pollinators love what she's allowing to grow. She has also identified how many plants are edible and uses them with great gusto. In a way, she's turned straw into gold.
I probably have as many species in the portion of my property that I mow. If it weren't for those plants, I would have no lawn. I'm sure the fescues and perennial rye grasses that were most likely planted when the property was developed were choked out long ago. I rarely use the weed eater, so all of those plants in my yard get a better chance to grow to maturity along the fences and the edges.
Not all weeds are desirable. Some, like this buttercup, are invasive, but still pretty and loved by a few of the pollinators--and not yet so wide spread that I can't take control if I need to:
I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with my retired garden, which sits in the middle of all the plants that I mow to make a lawn. It's not high on my list of priorities. The pollinators, the birds, and the garter snakes love it in there--probably a whole host of other critters do, too. Guess that makes it an intentional habitat, so best left alone.
Your Turn: What's going on in your corner of the world?
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