Weeds: a gardener’s bane or benefit?

Angie’s List Magazine
Out in the Yard, NW Edition, March 2010
by Lorene Edwards Forkner

Read entire article (off site link)

Weeds are the curse of gardeners everywhere! Or are they?

Lyrically described as simply a plant in the wrong place, weeds have amazing reproductive capabilities and tough constitutions, which ensure their survival where other more “civilized” plants perish.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a growing season that ranges from 200 to 250 days in coastal regions to anywhere from 50 to 150 days on the eastside of the mountains and in western intermountain regions.

But the growing season for weeds always seems just a bit longer. In this way, weeds play a critical role in preventing erosion and protecting soil structure during the dormant season.

Weeds are largely opportunistic plants that move in and take over bare soil. Keeping the ground covered with mulch or spreading plants is a gardener’s best defense against weeds.

Gravel and wood chips are perfectly adequate materials, and should blanket the ground to both smother and shade out any unwanted wildlings. Compost is even better; decomposed organic material that feeds the garden and your plants as industrious earthworms tunnel and mix it into the soil.

Nevertheless, when weeds do show up – and they will – eliminate them as quickly as possible before they have a chance to spread, taking particular care to remove all seed heads.

Digging the plants is the most effective; there’s even a term for it – weeding! Boiling water or a strong vinegar solution will dispatch pesky intruders between stepping stones or in gravel pathways. Steer clear of toxic herbicides that indiscriminately kill all plants and pose a danger to fish and wildlife.

But not all weeds are “bad.” Several Northwest varieties have unique properties that can be of benefit in your garden:

Comfrey: Higher in nitrogen than most barnyard manures, add the large succulent leaves to the compost pile or prepare a liquid fertilizer by placing them in a bucket of water in the sun to stew into a potent tonic.

Horsetail: Especially persistent in wet soils, horsetail is an effective anti-fungal agent when brewed into a strong tea, cooled and sprayed on seedlings to fend off mildew and fungal disease.

Stinging Nettles: High in potassium and calcium and extremely nutritious for both garden and gardeners alike. Apply to the soil as a tea or add plants (minus their seed heads) to the compost pile. Wear protective clothing when harvesting to defend yourself from the nasty sting caused by fine hairs along the stems and leaves.

Chickweed: It’s delicious! Serve it up with a light vinaigrette in the early spring before the lettuce comes on.