Goldenrod uses? Problems?

I have large areas of my meadow covered in goldenrod. When well established it is essentially a monocrop. This makes me think it is allopathic and a quick search confirmed my suspicion. I did not see any more information regarding what plants are targeted by the allopathy. Are there any wildflowers or other plants that grow well with goldenrod? It is very beautiful and bugs seem to love it, so I dont think it's all that bad. Do you try to keep it in check or at least out of the garden?

For now I have been chop and dropping the goldenrod that comes up in the garden.

Are there any uses for goldenrod? I have not yet read about the medicinal properties. Is it edible?

This seems like a plant that people either love or hate.

Thanks for your input

I've been letting the goldenrod do its own thing as the bees seem to enjoy it, but also had the suspicion it was allopathic.  It does seem to take over the area that I'm letting it run wild in, but something has to grow there, so why not it? From my observation it does seems to help keep the invasives somewhat at bay, so there's that. Not sure how hard it will be to get rid of if I ever choose to put that area into production, perhaps others will chime in. FWIW, the local beeekeeper I was talking to mentioned there are two varieties around here, not sure about the differences.

As far as medicinal uses, I was surprised to find out that it is a considered to have medicinal properties. Youtube threw me a bunch of unsolicited links on that topic last Fall ~ bizarre. It was a bit late for me to harvest, but this is one of the videos that was recommened to me. I never did make any, but this young lady seems to know her wildcrafting. Perhaps you can glean some info from this:



best,
-Pete

Thanks Pete. I have not taken the time to identify my type(s) of goldenrod, though I suspect it is Canada goldenrod. The goldenrod areas are the only area that knapweed has not been able to take over. That alone is reason enough to mostly leave it alone for me. I think I would try to sheet mulch out to the mature drip line of trees that I was trying to get established. Has anybody tried this?

Goldenrod is awesome! If you extract the blooms while still gold, in olive oil, it is an excellent thing to rub on sore muscles.

Every fall I dehydrate several quarts worth of the leaves, as a tea of them is a good tonic for the full body. We also use it with boneset leaves for colds and flues.

Also, speaking of bees, It fills in a time period for bee food, when not much else is blooming.

Joylynn, that is great to know about putting the blooms in olive oil. I will be trying it this year. How long do you let them sit in the oil before straining it out? Or do you just leave them. Do you add anything like beeswax to thicken it?

Can you harvest the leaves any time? Or do you wait until the fall for a reason?

I will have to pay attention this year to notice what else is blooming with goldenrod. Good to hear it helps bees get through otherwise lean times, there sure is a great amount of it.

Here is a guide for different ways of doing tea, oil, salves.
Fresh goldenrod flowers

Poofy stage dried goldenrod flowers

I've never caught the flowers dry, and still yellow. They always go poofy on me before I see they are dry. I think that all flowers that dry as a poofy white fuzz taste bitter. I am not sensitive to bitterness, and I think the tea is horrible. I think this changes the constituents of the medicine. These are my thoughts, not backed up by science. Because of this, with goldenrod, I always use the flowers fresh. Adding enough honey in a tea balances the bitterness, but as we want to avoid sugars, we don't usually use it.

In oils, using fresh herbs, to prevent excess moisture in the end product, I think using the fast heated infusion is best. Excess moisture can make the infusion go bad. Instead of the jars in a pot on the stove, I use a crockpot. I feel safer walking away from it for other projects that way. I also place a washcloth in the bottom of the pot for the jars to rest on top of. This gives some protection from drastic heat differential and prevents breakage to the jars. I do strain out the plant material. The process may take a couple of strainings to get a clear oil, this is what you want.

I leave some as an oil for massage use. This does need to be rubbed into the skin to prevent staining clothing. For the self-application product, I use enough beeswax to make it the same consistency as a stick deodorant. I refill used applicators with this type of herbal product. This thick, it does not leave grease spots on my clothes, as soft salves and oils do.

As to when to harvest the leaves, I do so from the time the plants have reached about 30 inches in height. Here, as the plants begin to produce the flowers, the leaves have begun to get discolored, ragged, eaten, and brown as the plant pushes to produce seed. These leaves are inferior for medicine. I harvest the stalk, cutting it near the surface of the ground. Goldenrod is perineal, so it will grow back. I dry the whole stalk, not in direct sun. As the leaves become dry, I strip them off of the stalk and save the leaves. You want the leaves to retain a green color. I throw the stalks in my garden paths to break down. That is callled composting for the lazy busy gardener.

Yes, Goldenrod is awesome! The first article talks about the difference between ragweed & goldenrod. Ragweed is the one that causes allergies. It also talks about all the healing properties, but I can also be used for muscle pain.
Be well!

https://chestnutherbs.com/goldenrod/
https://bushyheadbotanicals.com/shop/balms-salves/goldenrod-salve/