Encouraging volunteer or wild plants - PEP BB gardening.straw.volunteerplants

Could someone please help clarify the distinction between wild plants and volunteer plants? I just moved into my property last fall. I have a great patch that I’m allowing to grow as a tree nursery of things that came up on their own. This patch has strawberries (wild or previously planted I don’t know), mint (I assume planted, now well spread), maple and aspen, and a few others I haven’t identified yet. Do I need to plant something there and allow them to volunteer next year?

There's a link above about "Volunteers vs Weeds" that has a bit more context.  I read it as a volunteer is a deliberately planted plant that has reseeded or seeds from cooking found their way back into the garden from compost.  A wild plant is something that came from elsewhere and didn't have an origin in a seed packet (or the like).  

So I'm not sure the strawberries or mint are volunteers or just established perennials...  Maple and aspen would be wild plants.

I think getting volunteers to happen is easier once you're doing Ruth Stout composting and growing veggies/fruit on purpose, the volunteers just start happening.

Would it be easier to understand if it said "domesticated volunteers" and "wild type plants"?

Also are volunteers only those from seed? or do spread tubers and roots outside of original planting area count as volunteers?

Good questions!  I'm not sure.  I'll try to ask Paul some time and see if he can weigh in...

Amy Arnett wrote:Would it be easier to understand if it said "domesticated volunteers" and "wild type plants"?

Also are volunteers only those from seed? or do spread tubers and roots outside of original planting area count as volunteers?

Yes. I think this is clearer. To me a volunteer is anything that comes up that I didn’t put there, which would include wild plants. I think wild and domestic is a clearer distinction. I think I’ll chop and drop the weeds in that area and put in some squash and ground cherries, both of which will bring me volunteers next year. Thanks!

We updated the requirements in the top post.  If you can think of any obvious loop holes that we should plug, let us know.

Here's my submission.  First pic is of a banana with a volunteer butternut squash (black arrow), tomato (yellow arrow) and pepper (blue arrow) growing out of the compost near the banana's base.  Also in the polyculture is a wood sorrel (red arrow) which is a green for food.  I couldn't get all 5 into one picture (so close!).  The second pic is of a bed of garlic with wild amaranth (orange arrow), dill (yellow arrow) and red orach (pink arrow).  The amaranth is the wild one (at least I didn't plant it ever).

I encourage/select for these plants by not chopping and dropping them.  The amaranth is starting to take over which might become a problem.  Wood sorrel is pretty gentle so I don't mind it popping up in places.  I also mulched the area around the banana before I knew the volunteers would arrive but it worked out in their favor.

Can I take pictures of wild plants that I'm attempting to cultivate for seed collection? There are a couple "weeds" in my yard that I'm planning to replant/re-seed for future use in my garden. (Horseweed, medicinal value. Milkweed, pollinator plant. "Sensitive" plant Mimosa pudica, nitrogen fixer)
Do they still count if I relocate them to a spot where they can grow with other plants or do they need to be in their "as found" locations? Mine are spread all over my yard currently, with little flags and bits of wire cage around them to protect them from bunnies and over-zealous husbands with lawn mowers...

I think for this badge they need to have naturally shown up in their spot and that spot needs to be in a polyculture type situation.  So I think a wild plant in a traditional grass lawn probably doesn't count.  I think two wild plants that show up in a flower bed (assuming a polyculture of many flower varieties) would count.  I think wild plants that show up in a diverse "weedy" lawn that isn't mostly grass might count as a polyculture but I'm not sure.

First picture is my raspberry hugel bed. From left to right I got the following plants:
Cleomi (volunteer, for pollinators)
Green Bean (nitrogen fixer)
Mexican sunflower (for pollinators)
Self-heal (wild)
Ornamental sweet potatoes (for biomass)
Red clover (volunteer, N fixer, pollinators)
Raspberry
Penstemon digitalis (wild, early bloomer for bees)

I get N-fixer growing to improve soil, also potato vines for chop-n-drop.

2nd picture is part of my garden bed for luffa, birdhouse gourd and pumpkin. From front to back, I got:
Balsam (volunteer, attract pollinators )
Pumpkin
Buckwheat (volunteer, attract pollinators (
Tomato
Luffa (attract pollinators, including hummingbird)
Birdhouse gourd (night blooming, attract pollinators)

I tucked in a brush pile underneath the gourd trellis for various critters, and a compost pile on site to improve soil.

Beautiful May!   Could you answer the second requirement for the BB?

 - A brief description on how you encouraged the volunteers and selected the wild plants (ie mulch, selective chop and drop)  

Yes, I put some compost and apply compost tea in spring time to give the beds a head start. Then I just let things grow wild on their own. If I see bare soil I will chop and drop some grass, usually the ones growing along the edges. In this way I make the beds look neater and prevent the soil from drying out.

I have more polyculture beds but never see the plants from this angle (volunteer/wild/planned).

Mike Haasl wrote:I think for this badge they need to have naturally shown up in their spot and that spot needs to be in a polyculture type situation.  So I think a wild plant in a traditional grass lawn probably doesn't count.  I think two wild plants that show up in a flower bed (assuming a polyculture of many flower varieties) would count.  I think wild plants that show up in a diverse "weedy" lawn that isn't mostly grass might count as a polyculture but I'm not sure.

Ok that makes sense. I’m going to let the “weedy” plants that I’m currently protecting grow to seed as planned, collect some and let the others fall wherever they want! It might take a little longer but they’ll eventually travel around the yard and end up in places where they can grow nicely together

The section of my garden pictured below is mostly volunteer and wild at this point in the year.

In these spring I had planted potatoes using compost, and from the compost sprung many squash (probably acorn-type) and one sweet potato.  I thinned out there squash seedlings, keeping those that were best placed.

I also have a volunteer coneflower, probably seed from a plant in another part of the yard.

This time of year there's purslane everywhere,  though not so much in this pic since I used a bunch the day before.  I try to harvest just by pinching off "branches" so it keeps gety ij mg more leaves.

Also lots of lamb's quarters.  If it's in the way, I pull it up young, otherwise I just harvest there top and let it regenerate. I always leave just a few to go to seed.

I'd like to share the pictures of my polyculture garden. I grew garlic, dill, mustard greens and sweet peas in spring and they have all been harvested. Now cherry tomato, yard long beans, cucumber and sweet potato are growing.

Picture 1
In the middle is a volunteer peach tree that came out of the compost and I am keeping the tree. It grew very healthy and quickly, reaching 5 ft in just 3 months. I tried to make its roots growing deeper by limiting irrigation and fertilization. The whole bed is not watered unless there's severe drought. The peach tree has no pest issue so far.

2nd kind of volunteer plants are balsams that reseeded from previous year. The flowers are not only pretty but also attract lots of pollinators.

3rd volunteer plants are buckwheats. I planted some for green manure early, chop-n-drop them as mulch. Some mature seeds readily germinated and popping up everywhere.

Various wild plants also show up in the bed and I select some to keep, such as wood sorrel, plantain and red clover.

Last picture showed the garden soil is mulched with corn stalks, husk and sunflower heads to maintain moisture and increase on in soil.

I love letting things come back naturally from seed. For years now I’ve had lettuce, miners lettuce, cilantro, and dill come back easily. Lazy gardening at its finest!! I just like to leave the plants in place; flower stalk and all. After it warms up in spring and any overwintering bugs have awoken; I break up the stalks and leave on the bed. I also chop and drop anything unwanted and leave what I do want to grow.

First picture has reseeded cilantro, chamomile, miners lettuce, and some just emerging dill. I also let grow the wild plantain(medicine), chickweed(food, chicken feed), and clover (nitrogen fixation).

Second picture is across from the first picture and this bed is full of reseeded lettuce (three kinds that originated from tango leaf, black seeded Simpson, and bronze mignonette but haven’t seemed to cross and stay true to type), cilantro, miners lettuce, and dill (tiny seedlings). I also encourage the plantain, clover, and chickweed here as well.

How to Certify That Your BB is Completed

- A picture and identification of the 3 species of volunteers and 2 species of selected wild plants
- A brief description on how you encouraged the volunteers and selected the wild plants (ie mulch, selective chop and drop)
- A brief description of the permaculture use of the plant if it isn't obvious


Here are a few pix of my volunteer "foodie" plants: collards, yellow pear tomatoes, and an unknown squash.

There are also two pix of my volunteer "wild" plants: clover, blackberry, and narrow-leaf plantain.

The "food" plants were allowed to grow simply because I'm too lazy to make my compost hot enough to kill seeds. LOL

The "wild" plants are allowed to grow however they want in my yard until I believe I have enough to harvest without hurting their populations. They are all considered weeds in my area and grow almost intrusively. I harvest the clover for chicken treats, the blackberries for food, and the plantain as medicine.

Self seeded / Volunteer Plants
Broccoli
Nasturtian
Borage
Parsley

Wild Plants
Dandelion
Acacia Tree

Description - encouraged volunteers
Did not pull them out!!! (when they started to grow)
If they are really not suitable where they have sprouted, and I need/want to keep it, I would look to relocate in the area that is most suitable.

The wild plants just grew from being dropped by seed originally via birds or the wind no doubt.
And I have just left them both to do their thing.
The tree I will pot if it is not growing in an appropriate area.


Permie Use
Brocoli - food, and if let to go afterwards then the flowers are pollinated attractive.

The parsley is - greens for my meals, raw snack in the garden, and cutNdrop when there is abundant plants, otherwise if they naturally come to the end of their life, the stalk is chopped and put on the path of the garden, with all my small woody/sticks are, as home broken mulch.

The Nasturtian - living mulch, and good for soil, and cut and drop when it gets late in the season or when it has served the purpose and its time to plant out, e.g. have to clear it away.  Leaves and flowers for food, And serves the bees, and other wild critters.

Borage - the flowers are pollinator attractive, flowers in smoothies - antidepressant characteristics. Tall ground cover.

Dandelion - leaves - greens for cooking or salad, or smoothies with flower buds. I have not ventured into harvesting the roots for tea, etc, but one day I shall. Sometimes when I just have got so many I start culling by harvesting the leaves and dropping them on pot plants or around the base of other plants for food.


Acacia - nurse tree - small bird friendly as the branches are closer so easy to bounce around inside the canopy in protection from larger birds or prey. Cut to release nitrogen to feed surrounding plants, etc, and use the small - mediums branches for the garden floor e.g. chop as mulch.

Lots of wild and volunteer plants around this yard this year!

There is some purslane growing, which until recently I thought was a terrible weed - nonsense! - I'll likely use some in a salad tonight with some Lamb's Quarters (goosefoot, chenopodium). I also found a small cedar tree growing, and trees are useful for all sorts of things including sucking some of that CO2 back down into the soil. In our front yard, there are lots of sunflowers growing and milkweed. The sunflowers I imagine are volunteers from our neighbors, who plant their whole sidewalk area with sunflowers each year. I've been waiting for some to grow on our side! The milkweed popped up from plants last year, and we even saw some monarch caterpillars feasting on some earlier this summer.

Volunteer - Sunflowers, Milkweed
Wild - Purslane, Cedar tree, Lamb's Quarters

My 'technique' was just to let them grow, and clear a bit of space around them when they were small to ensure adequate sunlight.

I have a red leaf lettuce volunteer in the middle of my trailer parking pad.

- A picture and identification of the 3 species of volunteers and 2 species of selected wild plants
- A brief description on how you encouraged the volunteers and selected the wild plants (ie mulch, selective chop and drop)
- A brief description of the permaculture use of the plant if it isn't obvious

This polyculture bed is planted with:    raspberry, pecan tree, serviceberry, garlic chives.

In addition to the cultivated plants in this bed:

3 VOLUNTEER species that have found their way into this bed through home compost and recycled seed starting mix added to the compost bin

Asparagus,  Chervil, Dill

2 WILD SPECIES that have been allowed to "live" and reseed in this bed by carefully weeding around them and harvesting them without pulling them:

Lamb's Quarter (delicious spinach type green that is more reliable and has a longer season)   and
Purslane (grows wild throughout my yard, allowed to live and grow in many beds including this one,  makes a delicious pickled sandwich topper as well as stir fry addition)

Aurora House wrote:I have a red leaf lettuce volunteer in the middle of my trailer parking pad.

Here I'm saving its seed- pollen probably from wild lettuce go promiscuis pollination!
And also some pictures of native evergreen huckleberry & sala. The encouragement is clipping off sickly & diseased branches to burn and we removed several trees last January so they have all about doubled in size with the greater sunlight. The native Americans of the PNW ate the berries as well as other uses of these plants.
In the seeds saving thread I have a picture of a basket of Acorns. A squirrel (invasive grey 🤬) stole at least one and planted it in my grow a tuber container. When I dumped the container to harvest the potatoes (& onions) I discovered it. It will not survive in a 10 gallon pot, so I am planting it in a 1 gallon pot and putting it with the other plants I'm overwintering in my sun room until I'm sure all frost has passed and can get it in the ground in a spot it can grow as big as it wants.

The main meathod of propagation here is just places that are a pain to mow. I'm fairly certain the edler berry, poke berry and choke cherry are bird started.

- A picture and identification of the 3 species of volunteers and 2 species of selected wild plants
- A brief description on how you encouraged the volunteers and selected the wild plants (ie mulch, selective chop and drop)
- A brief description of the permaculture use of the plant if it isn't obvious


I encouraged the volunteers by letting everything go to seed as it liked. The wild plants were selected and encouraged by letting the edges go wild, mulching with grass that contains wild flower seeds, and having a bird friendly garden which hopefully brings in some new seeds.

Eight years ago I started this garden bed between my two apple trees. (You can see more pictures of it here). Some years I've maintained it better than others, but I usually let anything that's edible self-seed, be they wild or domestic.

To encourage my volunteer wild and domestic plants, I let them self seed, weed out things that aren't edible (like buttercup) and mulch with poultry bedding. I also burry compost in the garden. I let my kids take the seed heads from kale and run around shaking the seeds everywhere, too.

Domestic things that have reseeded/volunteered in it:

Sweet Cicely
Russian Red Kale
Onion (I buried compost Ruth Stout-style in the garden, and it popped up)

Wild things that have seeded themselves in it:

Dandelion
Goldenrod (good for dying yellows!)
Bittercress
Nipplewort
Siberian miner's lettuce
trefoil

(I also planted shallots and Chinese artichokes in here, and they are happily multiplying on their own. But I'm not sure if they fall under the same category as rhizome plants like strawberries)

Volunteers in my garden.

I don't do anything in particular to encourage any of them, other than let them grow once they appear.

Here’s my submission:
The weather here has been crazy so the Anna apple tree in this guild doesn’t look too happy at the moment. Please overlook. The rest is kind of a mishmash but from right to left are  the following: oregano, lemon balm, scabiosa, fleabane, oxalis ( looks kind of beaten up but there it is, and sunflower.

The volunteer and wild plants often enter our yard through our wildlife friends , but additionally we don’t remove spent plants until spring so as to allow pollinators much needed habitat and birds every opportunity to eat the seed pods. Additionally when we plant bare root trees we often mulch with oregano , lemon balm, and lavender cuttings which often have seed heads. My daughter also has two beautiful superpowers. 1. She is an Aspie which means that she is incredibly focused on and committed to detail. 2. She loves, advocates and researches for every new plant or insect she finds in the yard. These awesome traits contribute to longevity for plants that I, often might unknowingly yank out. .


Volunteers- Scabiosa is a beautiful edible/ medicinal herb that attracts pollinators.
                    Oregano and lemon balm are edible, medicinal pollinator attracting herbs as
                     well.
                     Sunflowers are edible and great for wildlife as well as good for cleaning up the
                      soil.
Wild plants- Fleabane is medicinal and I kind of like the taste of it.
                     Oxalis is an edible herb.