Do you ever leave weeds in your garden to see if they turn into anything interesting?
by arnethyst
Do you ever leave weeds in your garden to see if they turn into anything interesting?
by arnethyst
36 Comments
Yep. Sometimes they do!
All the time and it’s fairly easy to identify them well before they go to seed, so I can remove them if undesirable. I’ve had quite a few cool volunteer natives arrive in my garden.
Absolutely. Half the time it’s stuff we planted and forgot about it. Thank goodness for plantId programs.
Yep! The identification apps don’t always get it right.
Also pic 2 looks like purslane. So not a weed and is edible!
I had one and it turned into a Rudbeckia Triloba that I’m assuming was from some finch poop since it was right next to my Anise Hyssop.
So far all of mine have turned out to be invasive except for the horseweed and oxalis
Yup! Found out this year i have some white asters and goldenrod 🙂
All the time! I’ve had asters pop up out of nowhere and fleabane, too. Along with eastern evening primrose.
Yes, I never pull anything until I can identify it! I also wait to mulch until then end of spring.
I think #2 is purslane.
Probably invasive, been around in North america before Columbus though.
Edible, and apparently pretty decent.
I did. That’s how I ended up with green carpetweed and amaranth everywhere
Always! I have, in the past, pulled things I would have wanted or actually sowed.
😐
All the time
I have taken a few forgetten acorns growing in the mulch beds
Yes! The more natives I’ve planted the more I’ve noticed new natives sprouting up. I think the nursery stock I have been using must be reinvigorating the seed bank. I’ve even noticed some native hitchhikers in the potting soil they use (which weren’t even ones I had purchased). I’ve been working on restoring my forested property, so every bit helps
Indian mallow this year!
Yes but not those weeds. I think the first one is maybe wild pansy and the second is purslane which is invasive and will spread all around in all kinds of conditions.
One you have a couple seasons under your belt you will start to recognize native seedlings and then all the common invasives in your yard!
My whole beds are weeds grown from the seed bank. I’m literally just clipping and trimming things I don’t like, while keeping others that look nice or beneficial.
Always! I have some weeds that I love!
I laid native coneflower seeds last fall, but didnt know what to look for when they came to.
I had left a broad leafed plant all summer thinking it was coneflower only to Google lens and be told it was virginia tick weed.
I panicked and pulled most of it up and now i’m regretting not posting it here instead. I hesitate to share the 2 that I left in the garden bed for fear that they are ID’d as coneflower.
What’s #3?
I ended up with sorghum this year
Yes, and then I very quickly found myself with a 5foot+ tall dog fennel because I was so weirded out that it smelled and looks a bit like dill… found out it’s actually pretty terrible since it contains something that causes liver failure/damage
Scarlett Bee balm was my favorite surprise!
I did earlier this year and it turned out to be frost aster, so I’m glad I left it.
Since I fenced in my butterfly/hummingbird garden , it’s amazing what pops up now that the deer & rabbits can’t eat them as soon as they start growing
First one looks like crabgrass. (Invasive)
Second is purslane (invasive)
Last looks to be a species of wood sorrel (native)
I leave them until I can ID them, then pull them if they’re invasive or otherwise problematic
The third looks like Herb Robert (STINKY BOB), in my region of the PNW, its invasive and really aggressive & annoying.
The second is purslane, my spouse loves it and is trying very hard to make a little (contained) patch in our yard, but not having luck. I told him to put gravel on the top of the containers to help keep some heat in, and that seems to be helping some. If it starts to get a little overgrown, grab some to cook with eggs! 🙂
I do it in the lawn too. Leave a patch unmowed for a bit, go thru and see what natives I can get. Its how ive gotten all my natives so far.
I do. One of my worst mistakes was leaving the (I now know as) “hairy crab weed” or a mulberry weed, that I thought was cute.
It was about 20 plants/ weeds in my shade loving flower bed, where they first poked up. They looked good and filled in much of the bare soil.
A year later, they are EVERYWHERE. I pull these things multiple times a day and can’t catch up. Amazing how prolific they really are. I do still think they are a “cute” little plant…. But my dislike for them cannot be measured. It’s bad!
I’m much more careful who I let live these days.
All the time! Some jewels of opar volunteered in my garden and it’s lovely!
I got a lot of New England Aster this way! Once you learn how to ID a bit, it’s like nature is doing half the gardening for you.
All the time. This year, I received a surprise cherry tomato plant. I haven’t had to care for it at all, and it has gifted me hundreds of tomatoes.
100%. There was this giant thing growing & I was really excited to see what flower it produced. It grew to about 3 feet tall & produced the tiniest little unobtrusive brownish flowers.
I decided a while back that if I’m not growing anything specific in an area I let everything grow except briars, thistles, docks, nettles & bindweed.
I still haven’t technically planted a single thing, I just filter what spawns in my yard once it’s identifiable