Weeds are a really challenging problem. I spend considerable time pulling them, digging, them, and sorting them.
Generally speaking, the broadest definition of a weed is something that’s growing someplace where you don’t want it.
You can recognize this type of plant after you pull it because it often either won’t come out without major work, or it breaks off easily and leaves its roots intact.
If you pull something that you think might be a weed and it comes out easily, roots and all, you probably spent a small fortune on it. This always seems to be the case for me, at least! Based on over thirty years as a weed puller, I know.
My career as a weed puller started off very poorly. My mother sent me out to weed the onions. I had no idea what onions looked like, so I pulled everything that I thought was pigweed.
Whoops.
That meant all the onions had to be replanted.
She was not so happy with me, and I think probably not so happy with herself for failing to make sure I knew what I was supposed to leave in the ground, and what was to be pulled. Lesson learned.
Occasionally, I have to ask my friend who is in her nineties to come over and play that fun game with me – “Is It a Weed, or Is It a Flower?”
I doubt that I’m the only person who has two pictures on their computer, one labeled “Goldenrod not serrated leaves” and one labeled “Not Goldenrod serrated leaves.” The daisies and goldenrod look similar.
Imagine my horror when I looked at the plant that I had been unsure of for weeks, and found it clear full of goldenrod blossoms. No wonder my eyes ached from allergies.
Usually when I am unsure, I ask my husband what he thinks. If we are both unsure, we wait. This year that worked out well, since I was really
Read more on gardenerspath.com