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

[flowerbug]

It is contained by a concrete walkway on one side but it has been in a flower bed for years. It's on the eastside of the house, probably about 8' from the wall.

along the house may mean limited moisture or does it get watered regularly?

the plant i was dealing with was in prime garden soil with plenty of compost, moisture and easy space to invade (the old strawberry patch).

 

[digitS']

It is watered.

The hydrangeas can suffer from morning and midday sun but, generally do well. They cannot be planted in full-sun here, watered or not.

Nothing much has been done with the soil in that bed. Neglected and a rocky mess. My suspicion is that both SPedigree and your environments are significantly different despite our common, northernly locations.

 

[SPedigrees]

Wow is that pic of your arms from stinging nettle? That looks painful. What do you use to treat it. Antihistimes help?

No, this was from poison parsnip. I should have worn long sleeves, but it was a hot day, so... I don't think I treated it with anything, just waited for the blisters to dry up on their own. That wasn't my only run-in with poison parsnips, just the most spectacular! Your experience with Juniper sounds far more serious and harder to cure. I'm not sure if we have juniper here.

The little dandelion eater was one of our two small Shetland ponies, but all 4 of our horses also partook over the years.

My town is very rural and rather poor, so thankfully they don't do any roadside spraying of chemicals, although they usually mow along the roadsides once a year in late summer.

I'm not sure what @SPedigrees means by "wild" parsnip being poisonous but maybe what we call that is also. Names Names ... common names vary. Even the "scientific" do, over time and, especially, as scientific genetic research is now being used with more and more plants.

Books and online sources refer to it as wild parsnip, aka Pastinaca sativa, but to locals it has the well deserved moniker of poison parsnip.

Wild Parsnip | Cornell Weed Identification

blogs.cornell.edu

This evil weed is not native, but was brought here by early settlers, for its edible roots.

“A weed is simply any plant where it is not wanted , a subjective term based on human perception, or agricultural goals , rather than scientific classification”.

This sounds like a reasonable definition.

As far as how tall goldenrod grows here, I expect that is due to large rainfall that we usually have here. Unfortunately that may be changing. We have had a record breaking drought this summer, and I fear we may be going the way of Eastern Canada, with scorched earth and wildfires.

i have seen monarchs lay eggs on other flowers related to milkweed like this butterfly weed (it has orange flowers) plant we have growing around here in some spots (that we've planted)

That is interesting. It must have been wrong information that I read about monarchs and wild milkweed, because eyewitness accounts and photographic proof tell the true story.

 

[Dahlia]

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!

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When I first moved to the PNW, the house we moved into had a garden plot. This was my first introduction to chickweed. I didn't know what it was at first so I pulled it all up and threw the big heap of chickweed into the trash. A couple years later I got into foraging and learned about chickweed and could have kicked myself for throwing it out!!! It is so good on homemade tacos! Now some of my favorite wild "weeds" are dandelion greens, chickweed, miner's lettuce, Siberian miner's lettuce, sheep sorrel, stinging nettle, chanterelle mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and of course all wild berries and sea greens!!!

 

[digitS']

chanterelle mushrooms, oyster mushrooms

Are there morel mushrooms in your area, Dahlia?

Chanterelle, I wish that I was more confident in harvesting them. I once had an older couple who did and received some from them to enjoy.

I feel that I have walked by those mushrooms many times but knew too little about identifying them. Morels were easy. One year, I collected woodchips from the park department and used them to surround a garden on the periphery path. The next 2 years, I had morel mushrooms in those garden paths to harvest!

Steve

 

[Dahlia]

Are there morel mushrooms in your area, Dahlia?

Chanterelle, I wish that I was more confident in harvesting them. I once had an older couple who did and received some from them to enjoy.

I feel that I have walked by those mushrooms many times but knew too little about identifying them. Morels were easy. One year, I collected woodchips from the park department and used them to surround a garden on the periphery path. The next 2 years, I had morel mushrooms in those garden paths to harvest!

Steve

I think so! I only know how to safely identify the chanterelles and the oyster mushrooms thus far. My foraging books say that morels grow here but I need to learn more about how to identify those.

 

[flowerbug]

I think so! I only know how to safely identify the chanterelles and the oyster mushrooms thus far. My foraging books say that morels grow here but I need to learn more about how to identify those.

they are one of the easiest to id.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Chicken of the woods mushrooms are common in Oregon and found during mushroom season from sept thru Nov on the bark of degenerating decaying white fir trees in the woods next door .

 

[kcinwv]

Most weeds do lots of good for the enviroment. Milkweed is the only food source of the Monarch butterfly. It takes 3 to 5 generations for the annual migration of Monarch's to be completed.

Many weeds are a nectar source for bees including honeybees. In late summer these weeds are about the only source of nectar for the honeybee.

Many weeds have deep roots that pull up nutrients for the domestic plants. Many weeds are edible for a knowledgeable person.

But still there are times when we just have to pull them. I pull them up by the root, shake the soil off of them and layer them between the rows so the root is showing and dries out. No spraying for me.

 

[Dahlia]

Most weeds do lots of good for the enviroment. Milkweed is the only food source of the Monarch butterfly. It takes 3 to 5 generations for the annual migration of Monarch's to be completed.

Many weeds are a nectar source for bees including honeybees. In late summer these weeds are about the only source of nectar for the honeybee.

Many weeds have deep roots that pull up nutrients for the domestic plants. Many weeds are edible for a knowledgeable person.

But still there are times when we just have to pull them. I pull them up by the root, shake the soil off of them and layer them between the rows so the root is showing and dries out. No spraying for me.

I always grow only organic veggies. I love many of the "weeds" out there! They can be more delicious than the stuff you buy at your typical grocery store!