Forum:

plants

What is a WEED

Posts: 250

Location: Marrakai Northern Territory Australia

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I would like to know what your ideas are about what is classified as a weed!

I believe that a weed could be any plant that is positioned where it is not wanted, nor position usefull.
in saying this all plant matter is usefull i:e mulch, fertilizer ect.
some plants are invasive but do good by retaining soil though not allways the best choice for job/position,
Personally a garden space in say rest period full of so called weeds must be be more productive than a bare patch, can allways be turned in as green manure in most cases.

Awaiting your thoughts

Bird.

Anyone who has never made a mistake
has never tried anything new
-ALBERT EINSTEIN-

rose macaskie

Posts: 2134

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Apparently as the soil gets better or worse the weeds change. if you read wild plant books here they say such and such a plant is found in degraded soils or such and such an other is found when the place has its optimum or climax vegetation. One year my garden was full of pretty cranesbill in the last few years i have not seen any, i am thinking of digging a bit maybe the seeds Will germinate if i disturb the soil .
One of the reasons for no dig gardening is that digging and hoeing can wake up the seeds of weeds you don't want. Poppies are well known for appearing only in upturned soil but they aren't a weed it is difficult to get rid of. agri rose macaskie.

Brenda Groth

pollinator

Posts: 4437

Location: North Central Michigan

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

i guess if it is crowding out or taking food from a more desireable plant..anything could be a weed. At our place the only true weeds are the crab and quack grasses..as most of the other "weeds" are actually edible herbs that can be pulled and eaten..although they are not necessarily welcome where they are growing.

Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

a weed is a plant you havent found a use for it yet.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

rose macaskie

Posts: 2134

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

As plants you have not planted they are plants that will grow were they are without problems, so hardy, so potentially usefull, if you want the ground to have organic matter they are something you know without a shadow of doubt will grow there, will provide organic material in that spot.
They are indicators of the soil, i read thistles like bad soils and will disappear if the soil gets better, though i have seen thistles on good soil, so they can show you what you have got. agri rose macaskie.

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

to me a weed is just a plant somewhere I don't want it for whatever reason. it could be because it is in danger of outcompeting a plant I want or is in a place that has potential to damage a structure. also if it is growing somewhere near and it has a high likelyhood of introducing seed to places I don't want it growing, it gets the weed label. generally that happens with things that are fast growing and spread quickly so grasses and other rapidly growing and adaptable plants tend to get classified as a "weed" here. bermuda is the biggest most obnoxious uncontrollable weed. it will turn any sunny area into lawn in a few months if you let it.

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

rose macaskie

Posts: 2134

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

A weed is everything you have not planted and in the wild it is called a wild flower.
Some weeds are invasive they are reallly troublesome weeds.
Weeds are pretty they mean that the place is not over regimented, they make you feel as if you are in the country rather than in a garden.
Some are agressive they sting and prick you and stop you being able to walk round the garden both nettles and brambles serve to make ropes and brambles give refuge to wild animals . Some are comestible. Dandelion leves and plantain leaves, and violet flower leaves kaking up a salad can stop you having to go to buy vegetables. I find that when you have wasked and put a dressing on dandlions cress and rocket they lose nearly all of the sharpness or bitterness of their taste. Burdock root is delicious and fried alaria leaves are deliciouse in an omlette and scrambled egg agreably bitter.
Taking out brambles exercises you. agri rose macaskie.

Fred Morgan

steward

Posts: 979

Location: Northern Zone, Costa Rica - 200 to 300 meters Tropical Humid Rainforest

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I figure anything I don't have to take care of that is a plant is a weed. It seems anything I actually want, needs lots of care and attention.

Sustainable Plantations and Agroforestry in Costa Rica

rose macaskie

Posts: 2134

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

My plants have to care for themselves most of the time. You want all your plants, they make organic material, break bits off your weeds and you have material for your compost heap. When my soil got better because i let everything grow and make organic matter contributing their roots and those parts of the arial part of the plants that dry an die to the soil , so as to better the soil, the plants i planted got on better on their own`, neeeded less help. agri rose macaskie.

gillium Schieber

Posts: 23

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Weed: A plant out of place, unwanted plant

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

crtreedude wrote:
I figure anything I don't have to take care of that is a plant is a weed. It seems anything I actually want, needs lots of care and attention.

whenever someone says about a vegi type plant "you don't want that...it grows like a weed" I stand up and pay attention! a yummy plant that grows like a weed! thats my kind of plant!!! sunchokes, ground cherries, some berries....are all on my wish list because they "grow like a weed"

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

thomas jahn

Posts: 10

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Because in permaculture every organism plays a role, weed does not really exist there.
Even in wikipedia it says:
"The term weed in its general sense is a subjective one, without any classification value, since a "weed" is not a weed when growing where it belongs or is wanted."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weed

Gwen Lynn

Posts: 736

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

thomas jahn wrote:
Because in permaculture every organism plays a role, weed does not really exist there.

Just because an organism plays a "role", doesn't mean we want it around. (see sandburrs in permaculture)

I don't know what role this plant plays, but it doesn't get rave reviews from me.

Maybe people who are into S & M like to have it in their gardens. As far as I'm concerned, it is the definitive NOXIOUS WEED! It's only purpose is to cause pain & problems.

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I can certainly think of a few plants that have no role in my plan!!! sandburs being one. poison ivy another...........too much experience with both of those. even if they have a use they are not worth the problems to me and their propensity to take over make them a double wammy.

you're so funny gwen....s&m permaculture....a new sub interest

the definition of 'weed' is, admitedly very subjective.

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

Joel Hollingsworth

pollinator

Posts: 2103

Location: Oakland, CA

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Leah Sattler wrote:sandburs being one. poison ivy another...........too much experience with both of those. even if they have a use they are not worth the problems to me and their propensity to take over make them a double wammy.

I agree with you that they shouldn't be cultivated and propagated. And yet, it seems a pity for the effort of cutting them to go to waste.

I could see dicing up sand burrs to make biodegradable tacks, but admittedly I'm reaching a bit there.

Poison ivy, on the other hand, is really intriguing. Its cousin in Japan is tapped for sap much the way rubber or sugar maple trees are. This sap, filtered and mixed with pigments, permeates the iconic black bowls and coats the lacquered Samurai armor we've all seen. Wood treated that way has been known to last 9,000 years. In Japan.

Apparently this sap has many of the same properties as epoxy and silicone resin: after it has cured with moisture and warmth, it resists acid, base, water, etc. It is very strong, and makes a good bond to most surfaces, including metal and ceramic. Wood to be lacquered should apparently be spongy and thin, it seems it's mostly there to give the lacquer some shape. Some of the best Japanese bowls are made partly of linnen.

A brief search suggests that wood alcohol can be used to extract the active ingredient from Toxicodendron plants like poison ivy, and the chemistry of the lacquer or adhesive action should be the same once the urushiol extract is pure enough.

"the qualities of these bacteria, like the heat of the sun, electricity, or the qualities of metals, are part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men. They are manifestations of the laws of nature, free to all men and reserved exclusively to none." SCOTUS, Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kale Inoculant Co.

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

although some plants that are considered noxious might have a use......I must question whether in practical situations they are really superior to other options. lets face it...some plants deserve the "weed" label more often then others. just like a drug.....if there is nothing else that can do the job, then the side affects must be swallowed with the pill. but are there really no other options for preserving wood or making tacs? the only use for poison ivy for me is goat food, but .....I have tons of vegetation that is just as good for goats food and won't leave me or unsuspecting visitors miserable and won't choke out trees and have its berries deposited in frequented places where they will develop incredible root systems and be difficult to kill. in the case of poison ivy and and sand burs I would venture to say that there are always vegetative solutions that are better

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

gillium Schieber

Posts: 23

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

still, I stick to the subjective.. Weed: a plant out of place, an unwanted plant. pretty simple. All organisms have a place, and I guess if it planted itself there, it must be the "right place"? nah. I'm culturing my belief system in the stewardship of the land. After 40 years of rouging "weeds" I have learned a few pointers. I love diversity. plants that were once weeds become my "friends" as i learn about them. So ignorance produces the subjective "weed" or "plant" All organisms have value. It's my life task to learn as much as I can about everything... so I don't pull out a "plant" instead of a "weed". lol gadzekx

thomas jahn

Posts: 10

posted 15 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

gillium wrote:
still, I stick to the subjective.. Weed: a plant out of place, an unwanted plant. pretty simple.

But then, weed is not a fixed lable for a certain species, but rather a term for a species in a specific setting and situation.

It's hard to fight evil. The little things, like a nice sandwich, really helps. Right tiny ad?

Learn Permaculture through a little hard work

https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp