Our Most Unfavorable Plants

By George Graine, Fairfax Master Gardener
“But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want to grow something else. In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit. Weeds are people’s idea, not nature.” — Anonymous

There are many sources on weed identification. However, a new book puts aside those texts in favor of explaining the bigger picture of weed control. The point of this book by Tasha Greer, as explained in the sub-title of her book, is how “A Comprehensive and Organic Approach to Weed Management” will provide you with an overall understanding of weeds and will ultimately enhance your gardening pleasure. In this book, “Weed Free Gardening” (Cool Springs Press, 2022), you will read extremely useful information as it pulls into a single source how to deal with weeds. You will also learn how to have a positive attitude toward weed management and how to achieve peace in the garden. Greer notes that here is where “Your garden can become a place for easy, pleasurable gardening without constantly battling weeds.” Of course, gardeners know that weeds are probably not their favorite topic; however, with a greater understanding about weeds, results should yield a more beautiful and productive garden.

The usual approach for dealing with weeds, by many people, is to destroy them with a chemical herbicide. Greer’s book is filled with effective alternative ways to avoid these ogres of your landscape. Also- know that Greer is an outspoken critic of the typical way to eliminate and/or discourage weeds by other means. In almost 200 pages, she goes way beyond a two or three page bulletin written by a state extension office or green industry commercial garden writer. Her weed book, in easy to understand language, explains the why and how of weeds. You will learn how to cope with weeds in order to enhance your gardening pleasure, that is, avoid so much time in torturing unwanted weed plants.

Perhaps the best approach for a weed free garden is to apply a coping strategy. This is being realistic because weeds are aggressive and can be invasive if the gardener is not proactive in an approach to managing the weeds. In other words, to have a weed free garden means going beyond your first instinct of killing a weed. Reading this book, with a perspective that you may not have previously considered, will pay dividends in terms of time, money and your gardening pleasure. You are correct to complain about the scourge of garden weeds. Before you reach for a can of “weedicide,” perhaps you can learn something beyond your first instinct for killing a weed.

Chances are you have a variety of weeds in your garden or lawn and are quick (or maybe slow) to foil them with some kind of chemical spray. Using a different and common sense way to rid your garden of weeds, you can have long term success in preventing them by the use of mulch and taking good care of your soil. As a bonus, prevention techniques will reward you by saving time, saving money and saving energy because you will learn how to develop a plan for long lasting weed control. The result will be a more beautiful and productive garden. Note that Greer is honest to admit that the war on weeds cannot be won but she does show us how to cope with this apparent forever problem. There is really no silver bullet to eliminate weeds. It takes some know-how, strategy and a keen eye in order to stay ahead of these garden marauders. After all, your goal is probably to enhance your quarter acre or more of the world in order to grow an attractive garden (and maybe a lawn, too) regardless of the purpose for flowers, shrubs, vegetables and more.

The book is written in four parts. Part 1 is about “Weed Prevention.” This is the single most critical component of a weed free garden. It is the art of stopping something from happening. That means, it becomes your decision to take reasonable and strategic action to prevent unwanted future outcomes. Part 2 concerns “Maintenance.” Greer notes that “. . . temporary remedies only involve weeds to thrive in our garden. Every quick fix can invite challenges in our soil that weeds arrive to correct.” It is really a yes and no situation when considering organic weed control products as the panacea for lots of problems. As a gardener, it is important for you to read and apply these products as explained in the fine print multi-page instruction labels that are included with the product. Applying more of a product is usually not better and can even have unintended consequences. While a short term fix is likely to have a positive result, there is a downside. This will not contribute to a more sustainable weed free garden because weeds are opportunists. Therefore, a short cut should not be the go-to practice.

Part 3 is “Reconciliation.” This is where you need to take some action regarding your soil. This includes improving drainage, adding organic matter, increasing mycorrhizal networks and storing more carbon. (The book “Garden-pedia” defines mycorrhiza as “a fungus that helps plants absorb water and essential nutrients. There is a lot going on below the surface of your garden. Colonizing within the roots of your plants is a fungus that helps the plants absorb water and essential nutrients. In return, the host plant provides the fungus with carbohydrates. It is a win-win situation for both plant and fungus!”) Also, through the process of photosynthesis, plants store more airborne carbon in the soil to grow as many plants as possible. Part 4 helps to explain “Creating Peace in the Garden.” This section provides a variety of gardening techniques, all in short paragraphs, including square foot and straw bale gardening and then the no-work gardening method, which is essentially about gardening in mulch. Several other methods are also noted.

Although weed free gardening seems so simple, note that gardening is really not for couch potatoes. You may want to take it easy by using, for example, the grow-bag concept that you have seen advertised on the internet. The fact remains that in order to have a weed free garden you really need to follow the Greer steps to success. These are: 1. Choose a location, 2. Identify, study and use weeds to plan soil preparation tactics, 3. Get to work and 4. Re-evaluation.

In summary, the book “Weed Free Gardening” is unlike most others on the topic when it comes to the awareness and coping strategies for the control of weeds. Once you come to know and understand the process of weed management, that is, developing a plan for lasting weed control, you are sure to not lose your garden. This also means to be honest and realistic in regard to your garden weeds. Like the old saying — an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.