Are all weeds bad?

Afternoon all, hope everyone is well

After a dismal day yesterday, we have been fortunate enough for some nice weather today so I've been getting stuck in to some of the beds in my back garden.

I have found huge clumps of what I believe are Ipomoea Hederacea or Morning Glory sprouting up everywhere and was about to pull away when 'er indoors mentioned she liked the colours and could I not just cut them back a bit. They seem to be swamping a shrub but it doesn't look like it is in too much trouble as a result of this.

My view on weeds, particularly making sure they're not plants, is that if they come out of the ground with a gentle pull then they probably shouldn't be there. The roots on these seem to be much hardier so I'm not sure if I'm killing a plant or not!

I have checked through a couple of gardening books that I got from a charity shop recently, as well as online and people seem to have different views on this.





1. Have I identified this correctly?
2. Will it do any damage to the shrubs?
3. Will it be a full time job keeping them cut back

Many thanks

Andy

 

Afternoon

I'm only veg department really, but it don't look like a morning glory to me, more like some kind of Geum.

There's no fixed definition of weeds, a rose in a lawn is a weed, as grass in a rose bed is

 

Looks likes a Cranesbill Geranium to me https://www.shootgardening.co.uk/plant/geranium-endressii-wargraves-pink

 

Capo, may I point out that "weeds" ARE plants? The pink flower is that of the true Geranium AKA Cranesbill.

 

Welcome back Dai

 

it is unlikely to harm your shrubs. The geranium is pretty tough so you can cut back to suit.
There are a large number of hardy geraniums available if you want to get some more. Many different sizes colours are typically blue through purple to pink.

 

The Geranium Cranesbill looks like my Wargrave, it's so easy to propagate if you want any more and it flowers like crazy!

 

I have many of those "wild Geraniums " out in my valley gardens, they do no harm, are pretty and lend to the visual. so all is good.

 

I agree, @redstar.

They provide good early summer colour, ground coverage to prevent weeds muscling in. If you want late summer colour, just cut back all foliage straight after flowering and they come back with a second flush of new leaves and flowers... And when you want to put something else in their place, they are fairly easy to remove.

AKA - the perfect border caretaker!

 

Thanks to you all for the advice. I'm very glad I asked on here before ripping them up!

Sounds like it might be a perfect candidate for me to try out some propagation. [emoji2]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk