Whilst it doesn’t look like anything much is growing at the moment, one thing to be sure of, is when the big wake up comes, weeds will lead the way.
Weed is not a botanical classification. They still have their own Genus and Species.
Instead it’s a plants behaviour that lands it in the weed category. Turning up uninvited, unwanted on a piece of land earmarked by the gardener for something else.
Raised on Bill and Ben propaganda means reassigning the weed from loveable popper upper to colonising thug. One who will steal food, water, light and space from your intended.
This criminal fraternity can be divided into 3 classes. Perennial, Ephemeral and Annual.
Perennial which includes the likes of Ground Elder and Couch Grass have over wintering roots in which to store food and from which to rally forth again come spring. They also multiply by their roots so try to get rid of them by rotavating etc and all the little chopped up pieces will mean you’ve lent a helping blade in a population explosion. Horror in the Herbaceous border.
Ephemeral weeds like Groundsel and Chickweed need no help reproducing. Their party trick is being able to grow and seed within a few weeks, resulting in potentially thousands of weeds per year.
Annual weeds are a little less committed to world domination, leisurely completing their life cycle in a year and ensuring survival by spreading seeds. However they’re not above getting us or animals unwittingly involved. Cleavers/Goosegrass for example is a very sticky plant, all the better for hitching a ride on what ever passes by to help it on its spreading journey.
Next Saturday I’ll take a look at how to hinder rather than help when it comes to the weed population.
