Hi Neighbour,
Do you know how we define a weed? It’s a plant growing where it’s not wanted. Not just any plant, I suppose. But definitely little plants that grow and multiply successfully, in spite of their small size. For that matter, some grasses could be called weeds. So, what one person calls a weed, might be another person’s treasure.
I remember looking at the crowd of bluebells at the back of my yard, under my walnut tree, and being thrilled to have them, so little and blue, standing tall with bright green leaves. Then, after a decade or so, there were splashes of light pink and white bluebells — huh? But the blue bluebells were wonderful, especially when they turned up under my dark pink azalea bush, in the middle of the yard. I can’t remember how it worked out, but my azalea blossomed for only 2 weeks in May and the bluebells, that start peeking up in March, hung around ’til then, to create such a beautiful sight. What a great backdrop for photos of the kids and even of my grey and white angora cat!
In years past, my focus was on controlling dandelions, in my front yard; then it was on buttercups, in my backyard. I’d spend hours in one part of the yard, trying to get a handle on weeds, only to lose sight of another infestation in another part of the yard. I didn’t want to use any chemicals, so I tried to dig up weeds in March or April, before they had a chance to get a stronghold. Time was my formidable enemy. It would take an hour on my knees to weed buttercups from an area of 2 m2. They’d fan out under cover of grass or dandelions, and, before I knew it, they got the better of me and I was reduced to snapping their yellow heads off before they could bolt and produce little green spherical seed heads, containing no less than 40 seeds each!
Well, it didn’t take long for bluebells to peek up in the rockery and on the other side of the yard, even in the middle of my grass. Last year and this year, I decided that the time is right to take control of my bluebells. Dealing with bluebells is a whole different thing from dandelions, which have one long, strong tap root, or from buttercups, with many, short roots and tentacles above ground in all directions. Lord knows how they manage it, but bluebell bulbs, which range in size from a pinhead to the size of a big radish, can be as deep as 10″ in the soil. If you’re not very careful, you’ll pull off the long, slim green leaves and miss the bulb altogether, which will come back in spades next year!
I really shouldn’t complain. There’s a good side to getting down and dirty. Earthing (or grounding) is actually healthy for us. But that’s another story…
Fiona