Let’s Talk Weeds: Friend, Foe, or Free Fertilizer? 🌿

[TEG Project Manager]

Ah, weeds… the uninvited guests of every garden. They pop up overnight, crash the party, and somehow thrive better than the plants we actually want to grow.

But here’s the thing—are they really all that bad? Some gardeners say weeds are a nightmare that steal nutrients and take over beds. Others find a silver lining, using weeds for compost, natural medicine, or even as free mulch.

So let’s hear from you:

• Do you battle weeds with gloves on and muttered grumbles?
• Do you let a few grow and call it “wild charm”?
• Or have you found clever ways to turn those pesky intruders into something useful?

Share your best (or funniest) weed-fighting hacks, your “can’t-believe-this-weed” stories, or maybe even your secret admiration for a weed or two. After all, one gardener’s pest is another gardener’s pet plant!

 

[ducks4you]

As I understand it weeds can be very helpful AS LONG AS you don't let them go to seed and spread uncontrolled.
Their deep roots bring up nutrients in the soil, you can make compost tea (sans weed seeds) to fertilize your crops and flowers, some weeds are those you make peace with simply bc they are less noxious than others, such as letting dandelions grow instead of thistles.
I let dandelions, clover, purslane and sometimes plantain alone as unplanned cover crops.
The battle for ME at my place is with burdock and bindweed.
Many other weeds right now have gotten tall, but a few hours with a reciprocating saw and some paper to start a nice fire and They will be history.
Weeds make nice ash, too.

 

[digitS']

Some Of Them Have Their Place In A Garden.

The above is a redroot pigweed, right? Not quite. The seed was sold as Green Amaranth and I will believe them. I have eaten pigweed a number of times and don't dislike it. This near cousin is milder and more tender. We will save some seed altho a few plants are growing from roots left as cut-&-come-again.

Your picture of a dandelion reminds me that I have a purchased tea made in part with dandelion roots. I have roasted and successfully used dandelion roots for a coffee addition or supplement. When I was successful, the plants were growing big and healthy, not like those that squeeze out an existence in my lawn!

Some people like the flavor of purslane. I don't. Useful garden plants that volunteer for another season are great, however, even with those, caution is needed. How many can be made use of and how much competition are they to other plants?

Mostly, weeds are a nuisance to me. My compost is regularly contaminated with weed seed and the way that I make compost will not kill that seed with the heat of decomposition. So, I am reluctant to use invasive plants for compost. Spent vegetables and kitchen scraps provide a good supply of green material for compost.

Steve

 

[Alasgun]

As a Rabbitier i prefer to call them Forage!