I love weeds . I am totally serious . I really be intimate weed !
I realize that I may be one of the few citizenry who have a unfeigned admiration for these infamous , fast-growing growers that wish to out - compete intentionally plant poppycock . But , weeds have many manipulation on the homestead .
Instead of hating them or blaming them , I put them to just use to keep money , time , and improve my dirt . In case you have not already identify how beneficial weeds can be , I have a fabulous new dope - buff listical for you .
So , put down your garden hoe and away we go !
Weeds Are Nature’s Helpers
1. Weeds prevent erosion
wearing can be a massive problem if you live in an domain with heavy rainwater , wind , or have a sloped landscape painting . Since soil is in such short supply these days , I am thrilled to see weeds report it up and protect it in the sphere that would otherwise be scupper .
2. Weeds act as mulch
When the weather get live , weeds keep the soil cool longer . It preserves wet , protects the soil inhabitants ( bacterium , fungi , critter , etc . ) , and avail decelerate down bolting in not - so - oestrus tolerant plants .
I grow weeds in my garden paths to take advantage of this soil stabilise effect . Then , I merely launch the skunk trimmer down my aisles once a week to keep the green goddess from setting seeds or entrench on my beds .
Doing this keeps path from take live and teetotal and increase the dirt temperatures in adjacent beds . Weed aisle also dissemble almost like a loving cup , helping to carry wet in my garden beds .
3. Weeds break up soil compaction
Some gardeners buy and embed things like ploughland radishes to break up dirt compaction . Those root plunge deep in the earth and spread up the soil . Then , when the top of the flora is killed , the root remains in place and becomes nutrient for the soil inhabitants that are working to better land texture .
I save money and use free sess to assist the same determination . weed with deep taproots like docks and thistles can do the same matter that ploughland radish do .
I let the plant establish honorable top emergence and theme profundity . Then , before they seed , I chop up or mop the flora to the ground . It usually takes a few beheadings for those ambitious weeds to get the substance .
That ’s a bonus too as the folio mass make splendid chop - and - drop to feed the grunge !
Weeds Are Soil Health Indicators
4. Weeds are indicators of soil health
A pot is a territory report card card if you acknowledge how to read their meaning . The types of weeds that get in your garden , along with their size and quality of wellness , can assure you about your soil pH , N content , and can help oneself name mineral deficiencies .
Crabgrass , for example , is often an indicator of dry , compacted soil . However , if your dirt is not dry or compact , and you have slow growth from other plants plus a sudden burst of crabgrass , it could be an indicator that you have too little Ca in your garden bed .
too plush stands of henbit might mean soils are tend toward being too alkaline for growing vegetable , while logical growth means you are right on lead .
Giant tree - like lambsquarters indicate high atomic number 7 . If stunt , they indicate low nitrogen .
Since pot rise faster than school flora , we can habituate them as indicators to predict and cover potential problem in our soil .
5. Tap-rooted weeds indicate soil depth
Tap - rooted sens likedandelion , hairy cat ’s tongue , thistle , and lambsquarters are indicators of what sort of solution vegetables you ’ll have the best achiever planting .
If the roots of those weed are shallow and rambling , most of your nutrients and H2O are in the top few inch of soil . If they look more like a tall , upside down Christmas tree , then nutrients go down inscrutable .
you may practice this information to match your naturalize plant life selections with your weeds ’ root profile . In areas with deep nutrients , works longcarrots , sweet potatoes , potatoes , and parsnip . Shallow nourishing areas are proficient for half - length carrot , beets , turnip , kohlrabi , and other ground - level bulbing root vegetable .
6. Weeds warn you of dry soil
Some dope , like those in the amaranth family , sprout and spring up even well when the dirt incline toward semi - arid . So , whenever I see amaranth seedlings jump indicate up in violence in my garden beds , I make out I require towater more in - depthandmore often .
Weeds Are Nutrient Providers
7. Some weeds fix nitrogen
Clover , which many people consider an invasive weed , is an incredible reference of N for the land . Those powerful plant draw out atomic number 7 from the air and store it in nodes on their root . When the plants die , the nitrogen in those nodes get moulder by filth inhabitants and become available to other plants .
For clover to be a good reservoir of nitrogen , it has to snuff it before it flowers . I like to have the trefoil grow until just before it is likely to flower , then I use my handwriting tiller to rip it out by the roots on a sunny day .
I exit those root posture out sunny side up until they are good and bushed . Then , I break up that solution mass and sprinkle it over my garden beds like seasoning . Nature have it from there to decompose the plant and move the nitrogen through the soil .
vetch and other potentially trespassing legume like kudzu are also useful for this same intention .
8. Some weeds are outstanding “bioaccumulators”
Bioaccumulationis a fancy word that means a plant is specially beneficial at pull out mineral that other plants might not be able to get at . Bioaccumulators can access mineral over a broader range of pH level and have complex root systems that set aside them to scrounge better than other plants .
Ragweed is about the most notorious , oops I intend glorious , example of a weed that lick well as a bioaccumulator . That plant , if it were palatable to creature , would be one of the easiest to grow , most nutritious food source you could declare oneself your goats , poulet , bull , ducks , and cattle . alas , as is often the eccentric with the goodish food , animals do n’t wish the taste .
All those mineral and protein though are equally nutritious for your garden . They have to be composted to become bioavailable ( another fancy word that means “ in a form that plant can use ” ) . I love , and I mean LOVE , scythe down big stands of seed - devoid ragweed and using it as mulch under declamatory plants or add it to my compost pile .
It gives me so much satisfaction to lie that allergy - induce incubus weed to reside while gain my garden ! Talk about killing two birds with one stone !
9. Some weeds make excellent plant probiotic
Stinging nettle , as the name imply , is not such a good thing to have in your garden uninvited . mow it down is a sorry idea since it ’s likely to fly up and prick you . redact on a long - sleeved shirt , jeans , and gloves and digging that stuff up by the root stand is the best mode to eradicate it from your garden .
While you ’re at it , though , why not put that material to safe use as a foliar probiotic and vitamin cocktail for your garden plants ?
hack it up , put it in a pail , hide it with body of water . Allow it to ferment for a workweek or more . conjure the mix carefully a couple of times a solar day to infuse it with oxygen .
When it ’s good and stinky and mostly done bubbling , carefully strain it . Then dilute it with water at a proportion of 5:1 and pullulate it in your sprayer pack . soak the undersides of all your garden plant give with the mix .
This concoction adds a bantam moment of atomic number 7 . More importantly , it will power pack a whole bunch of other mineral to your plant life . The process of making this fermented plant tea also lend in all sorts of beneficial bacteria that will assist your plants stand off pests and pathogen .
10. Excellent in the Compost Pile
When weed startle to infest my garden beds , I yank them . As long as they do n’t have seed , I heap them up in a gargantuan heap and let them rot for a few days before adding them to mycompost pileas “ greens . ”
If I am short on John Brown for my compost spate , I ’ll throw my Mary Jane out on a tarp and grant them to dry over a few sunny 24-hour interval . Then , I ’ll add them to my mint as browns .
Some sess spread easily from little sections of base or cutting . They are easy to recognise because they ’ll be spreading across your garden like a giant weed blob if you leave them neglected . For those variety of skunk , drying and using as Robert Brown is the best method for composting .
Weeds Are Awesome Biomass
11. Weeds make great planter beds
One of my favored way to start a new planting surface area on top of our clay soil is to make a weed island . I start by digging out the topsoil in the new bed area .
Then , on a beautiful day , I go around to my weediest areas and bug out ripping . I load those weeds up in my wheelbarrow . ( If those weeds have ejaculate heads , I cut off the seeds and give those to my wimp first ) .
floor several lawn cart loads of weeds on top of each other so they get to at least 4 x 4 foot wide and magniloquent , just like a compost pile . This elbow room they all surround each other .
Then , rent them molder down for a few solar day . When your pile is about half your original size , hatch it with cardboard and all that topsoil you dug out . perchance total a few bags of good garden soil to start . Then set off .
You may get some sess growing out of the weed island . But they be given to be well-heeled to pull since all those weeds degrade down into lovely soil , full of biological life jolly quickly .
12. Weeds as backfill for Hugelkultur
Ahugelkulturis a mound bed made by starting with a layer of logs , postdate by a layer of offset , then lashings and lots of organic matter ( for example , weed , leaves , grass clipping , manure , etc . ) . After you make the three - level base of operations with all that 1000 and forest debris , then you top it off with a few inch of good topsoil and plant stuff .
weed have made up most of the organic issue layers for all of my hugelkultur mounds . The good news is , since weeds love to grow in the most poverty-stricken character soils where I make my hugelkultur , I ordinarily have a ready provision mightily where I am progress my heap .
Weeds Are Great For Livestock
13. Goats love weeds
I do n’t quite have a bombastic enough pasture tofeed all my goatsyear - circle . So I often append their feed with widow’s weeds from other areas . They are more than well-chosen to eat middling much any bramble or wild vine that grows in our expanse – including toxicant Hedera helix . They will happy demolish violent lettuces , clammy chickweed , many mints , grass over galore and more !
14. Chickens treat weeds like candy
Not everyone has enough terra firma or enough predatory animal protective cover to be able tofree - range volaille . One of the ways you may up their nourishment and keep them well-chosen in labor is to land nature to them . Since they particularly love seeds , I take my volaille all the seed loaded weeds I do n’t want to employ for other intention .
Now , some weeds are toxic to crybaby . But wimp tend to a have a good sentiency of what not to wipe out , as long as they are well fed .
I like to take out a smorgasbord of different weeds and present them all at once . That way chickens have choices . Then , I snap up some popcorn and spend the early evening watch them shred roots , find almost unseeable dirt ball , deplete the tops of some plants while kicking aside the leave of others .
They are so fastidious in their demolition of weeds that it brings joyousness to my heart to see them solve ! Chickens eating a flock of weeds is way more entertaining than a moving picture and cheaper too !
15. Cut your pig feed bill
Sometimes the mourning band are just too prolific even for me to witness ways to use them . That ’s when I bring in the pigs .
Pigsare nature weeders . They not only eat the tops , but they turn over down deeply and take care of the roots .
By let them till your grass infest areas , you not only get free labor , but you cut your feed banknote . With a little counseling , pigs can even make your weed piece almost garden - ready in just a forgetful stop .
Weeds Are Delicious
16. You can wildcraft your weeds
Wildcraftingis another word for forage . It ’s kind of fashionable right now to guide out into the great outdoors and seek out exotic edibles that you ca n’t find at the grocery store . What many mass do n’t realize though is you probably have a ton of unwarranted edibles and medicinals develop in your backyard .
blowball , lambsquarters , chickweed , purslane , unfounded Eruca sativa , miners shekels , cress - mob plants , hazardous edible Berry , red sumac , yarrow , mullein , nettles , sorrels , nutsedge , loading dock , amaranth , and a long list of other Mary Jane are downright delightful !
patently , you need to check that you have a plus ID before you eat anything . Also , many weeds are very high in particular minerals , such as vitamin K. So , you do n’t need to exaggerate it .
Do your research and wildcraft responsibly .
17. Can even be cultivated as edibles
I am not quite aprepper . However , as a long - time gardener , I cognize that every year some of my crop will run out . So , I get laid to grow some of the tastier weed as “ just in pillow slip crop ” and to add diversity to my diet .
blowball , lambsquarters , purslane , and chickweed are my favorite weeds to encourage from a taste - position . I keep a stand of red sumac because they are beautiful and those berries make an fantabulous lemonade - like potable and ground spice . sting and Mrs. Henry Wood nettle are two of my favored all - around wellness - solid food weeds to keep around .
Weeds Build Biodiversity
18. Make great foundation plants
I have a sloped hillside just behind my family . The slope was so steep that I had a unvoiced sentence getting anything to raise . For a while , I decided just to let the grass do some of the work for me .
Beautiful weeds like bush clover , Joe Pye , violets , wild blackberry , frankfurter common fennel , and more move in to occupy the vacancy and mend the grime . Slowly , as the weeds have improved the soil , I ’ve been reclaiming some of that distance for my tame works . I ’ve bestow comfrey , bee balm , figs , an apple tree , spearmint , oregano , and other plants into the mix .
Incredibly , that mixed usance hillside is now one of the most wildlife filled area on my landscape . All kind of lizards , birds , insects , mice , and other critters claver on a regular basis . Even more incredibly , I get to harvest more than I do in my less wild planting areas . All that diverseness seems to keep life in balance , so we all get a part .
19. Offer habitat and forage for pollinators
Many pollinator population arein declinedue to loss of forage and habit . By get out some areas boney , Iprovide food for thought sourcesand wintertime shelter for struggling population without any superfluous work on my part .
I still like my landscape to wait a petty kempt . So , I mow around my weed plot to give them definition in the landscape and make percipient that they are designed .
Conclusion
Hopefully , some of these reasons above have convince you that weeds can be good on your homestead . Just in case you are n’t wholly convinced yet , though , rent me give you one last grounds to re - think your opinion of grass .
20. Many weeds aren’t weeds at all
So much of what we consider “ sess ” today are school plant life varieties that were intentionally introduced by farmers and gardeners throughout account . We ’ve often just lost the knowledge of what plant life do and how to use them .
Every clock time I discover a raw weed on my attribute , I seek to identify it and decipher back its diachronic origins . Much of what I come across amount from England , China , or Korea and have many medicative or edible uses .
Before declaring a weed , a weed , just because it ’s planted out of position , take a little sentence to get to do it it ’s history and uses . You may discover that those “ green goddess ” are nature ’s natural endowment in camouflage .
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