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    Letting "weeds" grow?

    Does anyone do this?

    I understand that it involves some management because they can take over, but I want to let "weeds" grow because so many of them are nutritious and tasty. I've let purslane and nettles live in my garden before, but I want to allow the chickweed and dandelions to stay as well (I like to make a tea of the latter and it's also good in salads, and I've heard good things about the nutrition of the former).

    Also, how can I better manage actual plants that grow like weeds? The lettuce I grew last year and went to seed is popping up EVERYWHERE, and the arugula I planted this year is coming up a little crazy. But I don't really want to disturb their growth either. Should I just let them go and thin them out when I need to? It's mostly too cold to plant the tomatoes and other stuff I've started outside anyway.

    #2
    Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

    I suppose if you're careful about which weeds you let grow you'd be ok. After our houseguests moved out, we realized that our back yard was completely trashed...hadn't been maintained and looked like shit. In order to get some GREEN out in the back, we decided last year to just let the weeds go and see what our yard looked like.

    I know it's a big surprise, but it looked like shit. The ugliest weeds seem to be the most prolific.

    Of course, the only thing that I grow on purpose isn't for eating, but for smoking...and that grows inside the house.

    Sorry I can't give you more help than that

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      #3
      Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

      I don't grow things in yards though, everything is grown in containers. So I don't know if it will be too noticeable if I let things grow with herbs and veggies (my flowers will be left as is, because they're decorations!)

      I just don't want to choke out the stuff I plant though.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Roknrol View Post
        I suppose if you're careful about which weeds you let grow you'd be ok. After our houseguests moved out, we realized that our back yard was completely trashed...hadn't been maintained and looked like shit. In order to get some GREEN out in the back, we decided last year to just let the weeds go and see what our yard looked like.

        I know it's a big surprise, but it looked like shit. The ugliest weeds seem to be the most prolific.
        Well...anything is preferable to lawn....but the biggest trick (Rok) is that you do have to do *some* planning You need the "right" weeds--ones that are native plants, and not exotics. You need to heavily manage until they are established, and then you can sort of let them grow on their own. Choose plants that are native because they don't require extra watering, fertilizing, etc---but until they *are* established into a community, non-native plants (and native plants that may have some of the traits of exotics if they don't have competition). I don't know where you'd look for Germany, but here in the US there are multiple (free) resources online on native plant gardening and conservation landscaping for different regions, and even for making your yard wildlife habitat.

        Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
        I don't grow things in yards though, everything is grown in containers. So I don't know if it will be too noticeable if I let things grow with herbs and veggies (my flowers will be left as is, because they're decorations!)

        I just don't want to choke out the stuff I plant though.


        Danie, look for specific information on container gardening and companion plants...that should help you establish what grows best and how much room it needs, etc...
        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
        sigpic

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          #5
          Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

          Only thing "native" to Rok's place is acacia and gila monsters
          I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them ... John Bernard Books


          Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official; "You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done."

          The Chief nodded in agreement.

          The official continued; "Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?"

          The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied.. "When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine Man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex."

          Then the chief leaned back and smiled; "Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."



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            #6
            Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

            Originally posted by magusjinx View Post
            Only thing "native" to Rok's place is acacia and gila monsters
            QFT^

            We've been getting more "hands on" this year than last...we were kind of caught off-guard last year. We do have *some* weeds growing in our yard that are decent looking, but most of them just kill everything that looks good, and they look like shit too.

            I really *want* to get rid of our lawn...put in some decorative plants/rocks/etc, but my wife can't plan that way. She basically has to see it as a lawn before she can start planning on what she would rather have. Don't ask me why, I have no clue

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              #7
              Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

              My father always said that a weed was just a plant growing in the wrong place. (Just as an antique was a fugitive from the rubbish dump with a price on its head in his opinion.)

              In Wales there is a tradition that you should always leave part of the garden grow wild as an offering to the devil.... nettles were particularly popular for this. Mr Penry has a theory (once my radio interview is up as a podcast you will be able to hear me rabbitting on about this) that benign neglect is best for gardens. I leave mine alone a lot - because i'm often too ill nowadays to tend it, but it seems to do just fine. In the past few weeks I have found (and repotted) three self-seeded bay trees (laurus nobilis) and a couple of very old, beautifullly scented roses, heathers and some marjoram. Plants that may seem dead for years will suddenly spring back into life if you leave them to their own devices for long enough.

              Personally I like a bit of wildness in the garden. It gives the chthonic entities space to play for a start. Plus it annoys the hell out of my neighbours, Mr Sarcophagus-Jones and Mrs Anubis Evans, whose idea of the perfect garden is a small square of astro-turf and a couple of plastic flowers.
              www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


              Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                #8
                Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                Don't worry about the lettuce right now - it grows best in weather too cold for tomatoes. Cut it and eat it as long as it's not getting bitter - by the time it's time to plant the tomatoes, the lettuce will be going to seed, look really ratty and leggy and ugly, and be ready to pull. When you pull it, milk it for sap, add the sap to alcohol, and make yourself some pseudo-laudinum.

                The purslane (which I like to eat while weeding it out of the garden) actually makes a nice plant for a miniature rock garden. Try a low, wide ceramic bowl, build a little model of Stonehenge in it, add a ceramic snail as a focal point, and there ya go. Beware - tends to attract tiny Druids. Be sure to set traps.

                The nettles we get around here are generally the stinging kind. If that's what you have, I recommend that you let them grow tall, then pick a nice bouquet and send it to somebody you don't like. Anonymously.

                I understand that there are all kinds of health giving good things in stinging nettles. Whoever gets your bouquet will probably be grateful that somebody cared enough about his/her health to send it.
                Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                  #9
                  Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                  I think native plants aren't too much of an issue. Most of the ones I listed are native to Northern Europe also I have to water anyway because it's container gardening....I like baths so I usually bail out grey water!

                  My nettles are also stinging nettles, but I pick them with plastic gloves. They don't sting if you dry them or cook them and they make wonderful tea and taste much like spinach when cooked (a trick my oma learned during the war when stuff was harshly rationed).

                  I'll look into the companion plant thing! Most of these have pretty pan-Euro distributions from what I see so they're probably going to go with the more mediterranean plants I grow on purpose.

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                    #10
                    Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                    Like Tylluan said, weeds are basically plants you don't want growing in your garden. The one major problem I can see w/allowing 'weeds' to grow in a container garden is that often, 'weed' plants are greedy little resource-hogs. Mustards & other Brassicas are potentially physically huge plants (I've got some in my back yard right now that are well over 3' tall, big, bushy bastards w/mile-deep roots) and they will crowd out the plants you want. Some even produce chemicals that kill off other plants.

                    Growing weeds in a managed setting will eat up a lot of your time keeping them 'manageable'. Many weeds are perennials, and look so similar to one another that you may think you've got something you'd like to experiment with the first year, only to find out it's some spurge or hogweed or something equally obnoxious the second year. Another thing to take into consideration are your neighbors. If you've got local gardeners or allergy sufferers, they may make your life miserable for trying to be more in tune with native plants.
                    The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                      #11
                      Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                      I'm lucky....I'm quite a ways away from neighbours for living in a condo! We have really separated spaces in this building.

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                        #12
                        Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                        Pollen travels, though.

                        Just giving you fair warning - people get really sensitive when it comes to weeds & weedy plants. Especially if it's an invasive non-native species.
                        The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                          #13
                          Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                          Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                          invasive non-native species.
                          EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!
                          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                          sigpic

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                            #14
                            Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                            Pollen travels, though.

                            Just giving you fair warning - people get really sensitive when it comes to weeds & weedy plants. Especially if it's an invasive non-native species.
                            Yeah totally got that, but if they're that sensitive to these plants, my garden isn't going to be the issue. This is a very, very green city and these are growing everywhere. The lawn in the courtyard downstairs, the base of every single tree (and almost all the streets are lined with trees), parks (which are everywhere)....
                            Haha I guess it's why everyone I know with those kinds of allergies gets the shots!

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                              #15
                              Re: Letting "weeds" grow?

                              Thanks for the tips everyone! I'll definitely be looking into compatibility and level of invasiveness for the ones I decide to keep!
                              !!

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