Weeds are an enigmatic concept, and talking about what they represent in a single blog post is very ambitious, because it’s such a nebulous topic. So, with that in mind, consider this piece part one of many!
To start with the ultimate cliche, Webster’s definition of a weed is:
A plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants.
So, excusing the pun, the idea of a ‘weed’ is rooted in the idea of aesthetic desirability – they are seen to damage the look of where they grow, and they are seen to hinder the growth of more desirable plants. The question to ask though is, how did we conclude what is and isn’t desirable? What framework do we use? The answer to this question is long and winding and I’m looking forward to researching more.
Over the years, gardens have become hugely important historical constructs, and are synonymous with human artistic expression – whether that be of form, colour, shape, structure or just status. Nowadays, our own gardens share some of those parallels; as a general rule we tend to opt for a sweet spot between aesthetic and practicality; in short - they must suit us - our lives and our tastes.
My view however, is that gardens can be part of our collective landscape, part of a wider network of life that surrounds us. I think humans, as a species that takes so much from the planet, should try and give back to the ecosystem in which we all live. I find there is a great solace to be found in our mortality provided we feel as though we have done what we can to make our little patch of the planet as wildlife-friendly as possible for generations to come; it sets a precedent and it lays a foundation for life.
But, we often get caught up in the idea of aesthetic, and a big part of how we cultivate our gardens involves ‘weeding’, the removal of undesirable plants. The problem with the whole concept of weeds is several-fold. For one, the term ‘weed’ totally subjective! But also, by hastily removing weeds from our gardens, we are potentially starving a profusion of wildlife of vital habitats, shelter and food. In its place, we often choose to protect our cultivated varieties of plant i.e. the things we’ve planted, and sometimes looks can be deceiving when it comes to wildlife value.
What I thought I’d do for this blog is go through a short list of some of the plants that are considered weeds in the UK. I used a pest control and lawn care website as a reference for this. With each ‘weed’, I’ve listed some of the main ‘negatives’, followed by their potential functions to wildlife (and us). It follows that not only are ‘weeds’ often incredibly beautiful, but more importantly than this they sustain a host of life. So let’s dive in:
1. Thistle
A huge family of plants mostly in the Asteraceae genus, notorious for its spines. Creeping Thistle is perhaps the most common where I am.
NEGATIVES: Spiky, prolific self-seeder, fast growing
BENEFITS: Rich in nectar; very attractive to bees and other pollinating insects; prolific producer of seeds for wintering birds and small mammals; food plant for butterflies; taproot and stems of many varieties are edible and nutrient rich
2. Ragwort
Common in waste ground, Ragwort is a prolific grower and is rather maligned.
NEGATIVES: Fast growing, easily spreads, mild toxicity to horses, can be a skin irritant
BENEFITS: 35 insect species totally rely on ragwort for food; over 80 regularly use it for food; a significant source of nectar for bees and butterflies (7th most important nectar producing flower)
3. Stinging Nettle
The old classic, nettles are found all over the country but are particularly prevalent in nitrogen-rich soils, such as in hedgerows at the edge of agricultural land.
NEGATIVES: Stings, spreads easily
BENEFITS: Delicious edible alternative to spinach; food plant for butterflies and moths; seeds for birds; attracts aphids for ladybirds (and attracting ladybirds is great for natural pest control)
4. Dandelions
Throughout Spring, this common yellow flowering plant is found on lawns and on verges.
NEGATIVES: Spreads easily, challenges neat lawns
BENEFITS: Roots, leaves and petals all edible and nutritious; vital early source of nectar for bees and hoverflies; food plant for beetles and butterflies; seed for birds
5. White/Red Clover
Prolific grower and favoured by some farmers as a forage crop for cattle.
NEGATIVES: Spreads easily, challenges neat lawns
BENEFITS: Food plant for butterflies, pollen and nectar for pollinators, leaves are nesting materials for small rodents, fixes nitrogen from the air (and so increases soil fertility and makes nitrogen available to other plants, which is beneficial to many of them)
6. Dock
Perhaps most renowned for being the unofficial cure for nettle stings, there are many different varieties of dock and they are often found in waste ground.
NEGATIVES: Spreads easily, vigorous grower
BENEFITS: Soil improver (prevents compaction, shelters from erosion and returns nutrients to soil), parts are edible, food plant for butterflies
7. Common Daisy
Often joins Dandelions in colonising lawns, carpeting them in shades of off-white and yellow.
NEGATIVES: Spreads easily, challenges neat lawns
BENEFITS: Nectar and pollen for small solitary pollinators and beetles
8. Lesser Celandine
One of the earliest plants to bloom in the Spring, Celandine is grown by gardeners but in many circles it is seen as a pest and/or weed.
NEGATIVES: Spreads easily
BENEFITS: Vitally important early source of nectar for early bumblebees and other pollinators.
Serendipitously, each of the eight plants named above carry their own visual beauty - from the vivid and complex pink-purple flowers of the Thistle, to the lush verdant Nettle, to the carpet of yellow from the Lesser Celandine.
Of course, I appreciate that I might be sounding a little bit Hello birds! Hello Bees! with this article, and I’m certainly not suggesting that these types of vigorous plants don’t need some level of control. However, as with most things, moderation is key and these plants can co-exist with your other garden favourites.
What I do hope is that we can get to a point where we don’t instinctively yank out anything that we haven’t planted ourselves. This is a uniquely human level of intervention and subscribes to a totally manufactured notion of what ‘looks nice’ and what doesn’t - form over function. We share the planet with trillions of other living things, so I reckon we should make more of an effort to blend together both what is functional for us, and functional for wildlife. Human-centic housing and industrial developments, intensive farming, pollution and global warming continue to decimate habitats, and to re-iterate, I do believe we can, and should try to make our gardens part of the living patchwork of landscape that surrounds us.
By taking a considered but more hands-off approach to gardening, we can encourage gardens to become havens for wildlife, and in doing so we can start to appreciate not only the value that ‘weeds’ have but also how beautiful they are too. So, next time you see some weed seedlings pop up in your garden, why not see what it grows to be? It could sustain more life than you might think - and it’s a step towards collaboration and companionship with nature, which I feel is the most beautiful thing of all.