The Weeds in My Garden

Like most gardeners, I've clocked hundreds of hours weeding and will continue this regimen in my mixed borders of shrubs and perennials. But where my lawn used to be, I'm actually encouraging weeds — the ones I like the looks of and the ones that help prevent erosion on my hillside. Then I simply remove the others. (I explain to visitors that the "birds and the breeze" get credit for this lawn replacement.) Through this sorting process I've gotten to know the weeds in my neck of the woods.

The Lookers

Sedum acre, the primary weed I'm using to replace the lawn because I had plenty of it and it fills in SO FAST, is covered more fully in the ground cover section of this site. LOVE IT!

Purslane, (Portulaca oleracea) is an annual originally from India but long grown as a vegetable in China, England, and even in Australia by the Aborigines. It thrives in full sun, poor soil and drought. No known insect or disease problems. Photo left.

Smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum) is a summer annual that's seen almost everywhere in the U.S., preferring wet areas but having no problem in the driest parts of my garden. I love its 8 to 10-inch spikes covered with dark pink flowers from June through August. Photo right, and smartweed in my own garden here on my blog.

Clover. Finally, people are catching on that clover's one fabulous plant — drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, green through even the driest summer, and able to withstand foot traffic (though not as much as turfgrass.) It feeds the beeds AND feeds your garden — because it's "nitrogen-fixing." Here's my blog post about clover, and because I'm a big cheerleader, my article on Organic Gardener.com about clover.

I particularly love the taller red clover, which actually has purple flowers (photo left). Where it isn't mowed it can grow to its full 10-inch glory and really show off those blooms.

Dandelion

Now back when I had a lawn I'll admit to digging up dandelions after they'd bloomed but they look just fine in the new "freedom lawns" being promoted nowadays (where anything goes, weed-wise). I let them bloom because the pollinators love them but another reason to keep dandelions is because they're good eating, according to this article by Ed Bruske, who wrote about cooking dandelions for Martha Stewart Living magazine. And here's my story about changing attitudes toward them. If you don't like them, here's good advice about getting rid of them.

Wild violet (Viola papilionacea) is native to Central and Eastern North America. A perennial, it spreads aggressively and is resistant to most herbicides. I don't mind it when it's blooming in April — June but after that, they're less good-looking and I dig up as many as possible. The next year, they're baaaack!

"Ornamental" or plants commonly considered good-looking also blow into my garden, like the perennials rudbeckia and garden phlox. They're great in a meadow or a freedom lawn.

The Dogs of the Weed World

Crabgrass (right) is an annual that's best prevented with a preemergent herbicide like the organic and nitrogen-rich corn gluten meal, applied when the forsythia are blooming. Make sure you use ENOUGH, though — and the reward for that is not just preventing crabgrass but giving your lawn enough nitrogen for the year.

Plaintain (Plantago major) is, unfortunately, an evergreen perennial that's super-tough and short enough to avoid lawnmower blades. Like crabgrass, it's simply butt-ugly (to my eyes, anyway) and must go. It was brought here from Europe for its uses as an herb, and here's an article about that. Photo left.

Carpetweed (Mullugo verticillata) came to North America from somewhere else, but according to some authors it originated in Central America, and traveled northward. (But it's listed as a nonnative plant in Belize, so it seems no one wants to claim it.) Its a low-growing summer annual. Photo right.

Creeping charlie (Glechoma hederacea) was brought to N. America from Europe for its medicinal and culinary value and is now common to most of the continent. It loves shade but doesn't mind sun, either. Spreads by both stolon and seed. Photo left.

Chamber bitter (Phyllanthus urinaria), a warm season annual, is an invasive weed throughout Southeastern N. America. Photo right.

Purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) is an annual with purple blooms from April to October. Origin: Europe. Photo right.

Yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) is a grass-like perennial that spreads by rhizones and tubers. The stalks can reach 2.5 feet tall. It's widespread throughout North America. Photo left.

Spurge (Euphorbiaceae maculata) is a mat-forming summer annual that loves such hot spots as parking lots and crevices in sidewalk. Listed as invasive, but I can't find its region of origin.

Poison ivy, everyone's least favorite native plant here in North America, will always be in my garden because birds poop it. But here's my update about it that includes lots of great suggestions from readers, including some garden writers and one almost-famous horticulturist.

For more information

Photo credit for purslane. Photo credit for smartweed. Photo credit for dandelion.  Photo credit for violet.  Photo credit for crabgrass.  Photo credit for plaintain. Photo credit for carpetweed.  Photo credit for chamberbitter.  Photo credit for yellow nutsedge. Photo credit for dead-nettle. Photo credit for spurge. Photo credit for creeping charlie.