Hi, I'm hoping I can get some info on these. Every once in a while I see posts about how plants we consider weeds are actually medicinal. Up until now, I would just yank up all the weeds. So going forward, I'd like to be mindful about what I try to get rid of and what I should keep and how to use/maintain them.
A few days ago I noticed these growing in my backyard mainly around the area I had to cut down 2 dyinh trees a few years ago.
An image search describes them as Ground-Ivy, Henbit Deadnettle or red Deadnettle and Common Groundsel.
This is in Brooklyn, NY. It's a cemented backyard except for a small area where we had 2 trees. 20 years ago before it was cemented we had a small garden. My nextdoor neighbor has a vegetable garden.
Thank you in advance for your time and info.
by Appropriate_Gift_555
3 Comments
Those are henbit and common groundsel. You can make an informed decision on your own, but henbit is an ephemeral, so summer heat will kill them back until the fall and groundsel seeds pretty aggressively.
I would pull the groundsel. It flowers like a dandelion in a puffball so the seeds go everywhere. You’ll end up with a lot more if you leave it.
The others have nice foliage and I like the purple flowers. Idk much about them.
Maybe consider planting native wildflowers/plants in the space. Better for the pollinators.
I actually like eating ground ivy and dead nettle but only eat those if you’re growing in raised beds, as it’s a bad idea to forage anything growing straight out of urban dirt and many parts of brooklyn are built on contaminated areas.
I’ve noticed bumblebees on both the ground ivy and dead nettle, and they’re two of my favorite early spring wilds, but if you need the space to plant I’d remove them. But if the area is going to remain dirt — keep them, as they’re not horrifically damaging though the ground ivy will spread.